UC-NRLF 


SENTIALS  IN  HISTORY 

Essentials  in 

\MERICAN  HlSTOR 

ALBERT  BUSHNELL  HART 


•.HI!1.!  ► 


a 


o 


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Abraham  Lincoln  in  1860. 


ESSENTIALS     IN     HISTORY 


ESSENTIALS 


IN 


AMERICAN    HISTORY 


(FROM   THE   DISCOVERY   TO   THE 
PRESENT   DAY) 


BY 


ALBERT   BUSHNELL   HART,    LL.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF    HISTORY,    HARVARD    UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK  .  :•  CINCINNATI  •  :•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


: H_ 


ESSENTIALS   IN  HISTORY 

A    SERIES    PREPARED    UNDER    THE    SUPERVISION    OF 

ALBERT   BUSHNELL  HART,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR     OF     HISTORY,     HARVARD     UNIVERSITY 


ESSENTIALS   IN   ANCIENT  HISTORY 
By  ARTHUR  MAYER  WOLFSON,  Ph.D. 

ESSENTIALS   IN   MEDIEVAL  AND  MODERN 
HISTORY 

Bvl  Samuel  «/ ij  AijriiN(>,  ph.d. 

hi  preparation 

KSSESTUL3'  IN  ENGJJSH  HISTORY 
By   ALBERT   PERRY   WALKER,   A.M. 

ESSENTIALS  IN  AMERICAN   HISTORY 
By   ALBERT   BUSHNELL   HART,  LL.D. 

EDUCATION  DEPT, 

Copyright,  1905,  by 
ALBERT  BUSHNELL   HART. 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London. 

essen,  amer.  hi8t. 
W.  P.   3 


THE  AUTHOR  TO  THE  TEACHER 

The  simple  system  of  study  and  teaching,  which  this  book  is 
intended  to  make  easy,  may  be  summarized  as  follows:  — 

(1)  The  text-book  should  be  carefully  read  and  studied  by  the 
pupils,  so  that  they  may  have  a  sense  of  the  movement  and  propor- 
tion of  the  history  of  their  country  and  may  know  a  body  of  useful 
facts.  The  names,  events,  and  dates  which  seem  to  the  author 
essential  go  directly  into  the  text;  dates  in  parentheses  are  of  less 
importance  and  are  inserted  merely  to  show  the  progress  of  events. 

(2)  Class  exercises  will  necessarily  be  based  upon  the  text-book, 
with  such  methods  of  question,  "quiz,"  "fluents,"  "cards,"  and  the 
like  as  the  teacher  may  feel  inclined  to  use;  but  he  should  always 
aim  to  recall  previous  lessons  which  have  a  bearing  on  the  day's 
subject  and  to  enlarge  on  the  text  when  possible. 

(3)  Reading  outside  of  the  text-book  is  requisite  for  any  good 
course  in  history.  The  whole  story  of  the  nation's  development  can 
not  be  told  in  five  hundred  pages.  The  rules  of  arithmetic  are  true, 
but  they  need  practical  illustration ;  in  like  manner  history  is  apt  to 
seem  dry  without  the  additional  interest  of  reading  about  some  things 
in  more  detail  than  can  be  included  in  one  brief  book.  The  number 
of  reference  books  necessary  for  a  school  to  provide  is  not  large.  The 
reading  references  at  the  end  of  each  chapter  are  intended  to  serve 
both  teacher  and  pupil,  by  sending  them  to  a  few  selected  and  brief 
readings.  Exact  titles  of  most  of  the  books  mentioned  will  be  found 
in  Appendix  B.  Besides  formal  histories,  the  bibliographies  include 
"Illustrative  works,"  that  is,  narratives,  novels,  poems,  and  like 
literary  illuminations  of  the  subject. 

(4)  Written  work  has  become  one  of  the  effective  adjuncts  of  his- 
torical study  in  secondary  schools  :  it  may  take  the  form  of  essays, 
based  on  secondary  authorities ;  of  reports,  based  in  whole  or  in 
part  on  sources ;  of  brief  "  judgment  questions,"  set  during  class ;  of 
"  written  recitations ; "  or  one  of  many  other  forms.  The  list  of  books 
at  the  end  of  each  chapter  will  facilitate  such  work.  The  "  Sugges- 
tive topics  "  can  all  be  prepared  from  the  text-book,  plus  a  few  gen- 
eral histories,  biographies,  encyclopedias,  and  like  accessible  books. 

5 

M69901 


6  THE  AUTHOR  TO  THE  TEACHER 

The  "Search  topics"  are  more  specific,  and  require  the  use  of  a 
larger  range  of  secondary  writers,  and  in  many  cases  of  sources. 
Of  course  a  school  pupil's  use  of  sources  is  a  very  different  thing 
from  the  long  accumulation  of  material  and  the  weighing  of  all 
available  evidence  which  characterize  the  historian's  research;  but 
"  sources  "  are  simply  records  made  at  or  near  the  time  of  events 
by  people  in  a  position  to  know  what  was  going  on.  Well-selected 
sources  are  valuable  to  pupils  because  they  bring  home  to  the  mind 
the  realities  of  history,  they  emphasize  the  human  element,  they 
vitalize.  Such  books  as  Bradford's  Plimoth  Plantation,  Franklin's 
Autobiography,  Lincoln's  Works,  reveal  great  men  and  also  charac- 
terize great  times.  Besides  the  separate  sources  and  collections  of 
sources  in  the  lists,  the  marginal  references  in  the  text  are  in  all 
cases  to  the  source  of  some  quotation  there  printed. 

(5)  Geography  and  map  work,  oral  and  written,  are  aided  by  the 
abundant  maps  in  the  text,  and  by  references  at  the  end  of  the  chap- 
ters to  a  few  authorities  on  the  historical  geography  of  the  United 
States. 

In  using  this  book,  then,  the  author  hopes  that  the  text  will  be 
found  interesting  enough  to  carry  students  along  from  week  to  week  ; 
that  it  will  be  the  background  of  class  exercises;  that  through  the 
lists  of  references,  and  still  more  through  the  expert  direction  of  the 
teacher,  the  pupil  will  add  intelligent  collateral  readings ;  that  some 
written  topics  will  be  prepared  on  subjects  suggested  at  the  ends  of 
the  chapters  or  provided  by  the  teachers,  including  the  use  of  sources; 
and  that  the  book  will  be  a  basis  of  geographical  study. 

The  point  of  view  of  the  volume  is  that  a  complete  history  of  the 
United  States  must  include  all  things  memorable  in  the  upbuilding 
of  the  country,  and  that  a  textbook  must  so  fully  describe  several 
different  classes  of  memorable  things,  as  to  be  serviceable  where 
there  is  no  opportunity  for  additional  reading  or  written  work : 
(1)  Political  geography  is,  of  course,  the  background  of  all  historical 
knowledge ;  it  is  a  special  topic  throughout  this  book,  and  should  be 
the  basis  of  the  teacher's  work.  (2)  While  trying  to  make  perfectly 
clear  what  were  the  aims  and  the  main  incidents  in  our  various  wars, 
the  treatment  includes  only  the  most  significant  battles,  sieges,  cam- 
paigns, and  military  and  naval  movements.  (3)  The  development  of 
government  has  been  treated  as  evidence  of  the  purpose  and  spirit 
of  our  ancestors  and  also  to  connect  the  study  of  history  and  of  civil 
government.  (4)  Foreign  relations  and  the  diplomatic  adjustment 
of  controversies  have  received  special  attention.      (5)  Social  condi- 


THE  AUTHOR  TO  THE  TEACHER  7 

tions  and  events  have  been  freely  described,  because  they  are  among 
the  most  important  causes  in  national  development.  (6)  Much  atten- 
tion has  been  given  to  economic  data,  as,  for  example,  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  California,  the  invention  of  the  reaper,  the  perfection  of 
the  trolley  car.  (7)  All  sections  of  the  Union  have  helped  to  make 
the  Union;  and  all  sections,  North,  South,  West,  and  far  West,  have 
been  included  in  the  plan  of  this  volume.  (8)  Since  what  makes  a 
nation  great  is  the  greatness  of  its  people,  this  book  aims  to  make 
distinct  the  character  and  public  services  of  some  great  Americans, 
the  details  of  whose  lives  are  briefly  set  forth  in  special  sections 
of  the  text.  (9)  Toward  the  end,  a  chapter  sums  up  the  services  of 
America  to  mankind. 

The  illustrative  material  has  been  gathered  from  many  places,  and 
includes  no  map  or  picture  which  does  not  add  to  an  understanding 
of  the  subject.  With  the  exception  of  reproductions  of  a  few  famous 
paintings,  to  show  an  artist's  conception,  the  pictures  are  all  realities, 
intended  to  put  before  the  pupil  in  visible  form  the  faces  of  public 
men,  the  surroundings  of  famous  events,  and  some  of  the  great  statues 
and  buildings.  Additional  pictures  are  suggested  in  the  lists  of  books 
at  the  ends  of  the  chapters.  Besides  a  series  of  general  maps,  show- 
ing the  progress  of  discovery  and  settlements,  the  territorial  claims 
of  European  powers,  and  the  creation  and  subdivisions  of  the  United 
States,  there  are  many  special  maps  illustrating  boundary  controver- 
sies, campaigns,  etc. 

For  the  teacher's  use  and  as  a  guide  to  the  pupil's  reading  and 
written  work,  the  Brief  List  of  authorities  noted  in  Appendix  A  is 
especially  commended ;  and  the  work  of  teaching  and  studying  will 
be  made  easier  and  pleasanter  by  the  purchase  of  the  twenty-five- 
dollar  library  there  described.  A  school  library  ought  also  to  have 
a  judicious  selection  out  of  the  long  list  in  Appendix  B. 

The  dates  and  statements  of  fact  throughout  the  volume  have  been 
verified  by  Mr.  David  M.  Matteson. 

Whatever  the  lack  of  skill  in  combining  into  a  unity  the  broad  and 
manifold  phases  of  a  great  nation's  life,  I  have  at  least  tried  to  write 
about  things  that  count,  to  describe  events  which  give  us  pride  in 
being  Americans,  to  set  before  my  young  countrymen  ideals  that 
have  made  for  national  greatness. 

ALBERT  BUSHNELL  HART. 


CONTENTS 

BEGINNINGS 

PAGE 

I.    Foundations  of  American  History 13 

II.     The  Century  of  Discovery  (1492-1605)    ....      31 

COLONIAL  ENGLISHMEN 

III.  The  English  in  America,  1607-1660  ....       45 

IV.  Rivals  of  England,  and  the  Great  West  (1603-1689)        .       65 
V.     Expansion  of  the  English  Colonies,  1660-1689  .         .77 

COLONIAL   AMERICANS 

VI.     Colonial  Life  (1700-1750) 91 

VII.     Internal  Development,  1689-1740 107 

VIII.     Wars  with  the  French  (1689-1763) 122 

REVOLUTION 

IX.     Quarrel  with  the  Mother  Country  (1763-1774)         .        .     135 

X.     Birth  of  a  New  Nation  (1774-1776) 149 

XL     The  War  for  Independence  (1776-1783)  .        .        .        .166 

FEDERATION 

XII.     The  Confederation  (1781-1789) 189 

XIII.     Making  the  Federal  Constitution  (1787-1789)  .        .        .206 


ORGANIZATION  AND  EXPANSION 

XIV.     The  American  People  from  1780  to  1800 
XV.     Organizing  the  Government  (1789-1793) 
XVI.     Federalist  Policy  (1793-1801)  . 
XVII.     Expansion  of  the  Republic  (1801-1809) 
XVIII.     War  with  Great  Britain  (1809-1815) 

8 


220 
235 
249 
261 

277 


CONTENTS 


NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 


XIX.     Settling  the  West  (1800-1820) 
XX.     The  New  National  Spirit  (1815-1829) 
XXI.     New  Political  Issues  (1829-1841)     . 


PAGE 

289 
303 
316 


SECTIONALISM 

XXII.  Social  and  Sectional  Conditions  (1831-1841) 

XXIII.  Renewed  Expansion  (1841-1847)      . 

XXIV.  Results  of  the  Mexican  War  (1848-1853) 
XXV.  Foreshadowing  of  Civil  War  (1853-1859) 


338 
353 

369 

383 


CIVIL   WAR 

XXVI.     The  Crisis  (1859-1861) 401 

XXVII.     North  and  South  in  1861 419 

XXVIII.  Period  of  Uncertainties  (April,  1861-December,  1802)    .  433 

XXIX.  Emancipation  and  Military  Advance  (1862-1863)    .         .  455 

XXX.     End  of  the  War  (1864-1865) 470 

REORGANIZATION 

XXXI.     Reconstruction  of  the  Union  (1865-1875)         .         .         .491 
XXXII.     New  Foundations  (1875-1885) 511 

XXXIII.  Economic  and  Social  Issues  (1885-1897).         .         .        !     525 

THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 

XXXIV.  The  Spanish  War  and  its  Results  (1897-1903)  .         .     551 
XXXV.     What  America  has  done  for  the  World    .         .         .         .565 

XXXVI.     The  Twentieth  Century 579 

APPENDICES 

A.  Brief  List  of  Books i 

B.  General  Bibliography iii 

C.  Declaration  of  Independence,  1776 xi 

D.  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  1787 xiv 

E.  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  1863 xxvii 

F.  Joint  Resolution  for  Intervention  in  Cuba,  1898         .         .         .  xxix 

G.  States  of  the  Union xxx 


Index 


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THE  STATES 

OF 

THE  UNION 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


REFERENCE   MAPS 

PAGES 

The  States  of  the  Union  (at  present) 10,  11 

Physical  Map  of  the  United  States     .         .        .        .         .        .         18,  19 

Early  Voyages  to  America 34 

French  and  Indian  War,  showing  Chain   of   French  Forts,  1754, 

1689,  and  1763 120,  121 

British  Colonies  in  1765 181 

Revolutionary  War  in  the  North 168 

Revolutionary  War  in  the  South 176 

The  United  States,  1783  ;  State  Claims  to  Western  Lands        .         .     190 

Part  of  Central  North  America  in  1789 198 

The  United  States  in  1803 264 

Roads  and  Waterways  to  the  West  in  1825 291 

The  United  States  in  1825 300 

Railroads  and  Waterways  of  the  United  States  in  1850     .         .     324,  325 

The  United  States  in  1850         ' 376 

The  United  States  in  1861 390 

Theater  of  the  Civil  War 434,  435 

Principal  Railroads  of  the  United  States,  1885  ....     516 

Territorial  Development  of  the  Continental  United  States,  1776-1866    567 


12 


ESSENTIALS   IN  AMERICAN    HISTORY 

CHAPTER  L     '  .- 

FOUNDATIONS  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Where  does  American  History  begin  ?     The   true  fathers 
of  America  are  the  men  of  various  European  countries,  espe- 
cially of  England,  who,  three   centuries   ago,  had   the 
courage   to  voyage   unknown   seas,   and  the    persistence       American 
to  plant  colonies  across  the  ocean.     They  brought  with  nistory 

them  the  religion,  language,  laws,  and  methods  of  government 
to  which  their  ancestors  were  accustomed  ;  and  hence  the  early 
history  of  America  was  really  a  part  of  European  history ; 
the  first  American  colonists  were  simply  Spaniards,  Portu- 
guese, or  Frenchmen  in  America;  and  the  English  settlers 
who,  to  better  their  condition,  removed  over  seas,  looked  upon 
themselves  as  still  a  part  of  the  English  people.  When  that 
bond  was  broken  by  the  Revolution  of  1775,  the  United  States 
became  at  once  one  of  the  family  of  civilized  nations ;  and  by 
commerce,  by  the  immigration  of  foreigners,  by  the  sharing 
of  the  world's  literatures,  by  interchange  of  inventions  and 
principles  of  government,  our  history  has  always  been  inextri- 
cably connected  with  that  of  Europe. 

The  discovery  of  America  was  a  result  in  great  part  of  that 

new  spirit  of   interest  in   the  past,  and  curiosity  about  the 

world,  which  we   call   the   Renaissance.      When,  about    rt  „  .  .     a 

'2.  Spirit  of 
the  year  1300,  men  began  to  go  back  to  the  beauty  and        enlarge- 

power  of  ancient  writers  and  the  ancient  works  of  art,  ment 

interest  in  nature  and  the  desire  to  know  her  secrets  sprang 
up  again  with  passionate  force.  Hence,  when  a  new  commer- 
cial route  to  India  was  needed,  men  were  willing  to  take  great 

13 


14 


BEGINNINGS 


risks,  to  penetrate  into  the   unknown  western  ocean,  and  to 
explore  a  land  as  yet  undreamed  of. 

A  new  spirit  speedily  showed  itself  in  improvements  in 
navigation,  and  especially  in  two  inventions  (both  previously 
known  in  China)  which  helped  discovery  and  exploration :  (1) 
.  giu>powdor,  perhaps  discovered  in  Europe  by  Roger  Bacon, 
and  first  used  in  war  about  1350,  enabled  the  invaders  of 
America  to  beat  the  savages;  (2)  printing  with  movable 
types,  probably  first  used  by  Gutenberg  in  1450,  served  to 
spread  the  fame  of  the  new  world. 

The  art  of  navigation  was  steadily  advancing.     Sea-going 
ships  had  keels  and  single  rudders,  were  fitted  with  heavy 
3.  Seafar-      spars  and  square  sails,  and  for  defense  from  the  seas  and 
inS  from  enemies  were  provided  with  high  bulwarks,  fore- 

castles, and  aftercastles.     There  was  little  distinction  between 
merchantmen  and  war  ships :  in  time  of  war  the  trader  took 

on  a  few  more  guns  and  men 
and  became  a  fighting  cruiser. 
Naval  science  was  immensely 
aided     by     four     inventions, 
which   by   1450   were   widely 
used  :   (1)  The  wondrous  art  of 
sailing  on  the  wind,  discovered 
by  the  Norsemen,  gave  confi- 
dence to  men  on  long  voyages. 
(2)   The  magnetic  compass  was 
a  guide  far  out  of  sight  of  land, 
and  when  the  stars  were  not 
visible.     (3)  The  astrolabe  en- 
abled the  mariner  roughly  to 
estimate  his  distance  from  the  equator.     (4)  The  portolano,  or 
sea  chart,  assembled  what  was  known  about  the  seas  and  coasts. 
The  prelude  to  American  history  was  the  attempt  to  estab- 
lish new  relations  between  Europe  and  Asia.     In  1450  Europe 


y??§< 


Ship  of  about  1450. 

From  a  drawing  ascribed  to 

Columbus. 


FOUNDATIONS  OF  AMERICAN   HISTORY 


15 


Mediaeval  Trade  Routes. 


had  no  direct  intercourse  by  sea  with  India,  China,  and  Japan; 
eastern  products  found  their  way  westward  only  by  trans- 
fer across  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  or  by  a  slow  and  expen-  and  the 
sive    caravan   journey   across    Asia,  over  routes   which  East 
were  broken  in  two  by  the  fierce  Turks  when  they  took  Con- 
stantinople   in     1453. 
Where    were   Europe- 
ans thenceforward  to 
get  the  carpets  and  the 
silks,  the  pearls    and 
the  cotton  goods,  the 
sweet    white    powder 
that  men  called  sugar, 
the  gums,  and  the  pep- 
per    that     sometimes 
sold  for  its  weight  in 
gold  dust  ? 

One      European, 
...  T.  ,  ,,  Battle  of  Japanese  and  Chinese  in 

Marco   Polo,   actually  Marco  Polo>s  Time> 

Crossed    Asia      and  From  an  ancient  Japanese  drawing. 


16  BEGINNINGS 

reached  the  Chinese  coast  about  1292,   and   thus   reported: 
"And  I  tell  you  with  regard  to  that  Eastern  Sea  of  Chin, 
Yule  Polo     according  to  what  is  said  by  the  experienced  pilots  and 
II.  246  mariners  of   those  parts,  there  be  7459  Islands  in  the 

waters  frequented  by  the  said  mariners.  .  .  .  And  there  is 
not  one  of  those  Islands  but  produces  valuable  and  odorous 
woods  .  .  .  and  they  produce  also  a  great  variety  of  spices." 
In  course  of  time  the  question  began  to  be  asked,  Why  might 
not  the  Spice  Islands  and  Japan  be  reached  by  sea  from  western 
Europe?  —  hence  attempts  were  made  to  find  a  water  passage 
around  Europe  by  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  around  Africa  by  the 
Atlantic  Ocean. 

Moreover  the  learned  men  of  the  Renaissance  discovered 

that    the    ancients    believed    that    the    world    is    round.      A 

strange  book  of  wonders,  called  the  Travels  of  Sir  John  Man- 

deville,  which  is  dated  1322,  says,  "  For  when  the  sun  is  east 

in  those  parts  towards  paradise  terrestrial,  it  is  then 

Mandeville,    midnight  in  our  parts  of  this  half,  for  the  roundness  of 

the  earth.     For  our  Lord  God  made  the  earth  all  round 

in  the  midplace  of  the  firmament."     By  1470  the  Florentine 

astronomer  Toscanelli  actually  figured  out  the  circumference 

of  the  earth  at  almost  exactly  its  true  length.     If  the  world 

was  really  round,  why  might  not  India  be  reached  by  sailing 

westward  instead  of  eastward  ? 

Such  a  question  could  best  be  solved  by  the  maritime  nations 
of  western  Europe  —  by  Spain,  France,  England,  and  Portugal. 
5    Th      ]  -  ^^e  a(lventurous  Portuguese  by  1450  had  already  dis- 
nizing  covered  the  four  groups  of  the  Canary,  Madeira,  Cape 

Verde,  and  Azores  or  Western  Islands.  Under  the  direc- 
tion of  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,  they  pushed  down  the 
west  coast  of  Africa ;  but  on  his  death  (1460)  they  had  reached 
no  farther  south  than  Sierra  Leone. 

The  neighbor  and  great  rival  of  Portugal  was  Spain;  in 
1469  the  marriage  of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  with  Isabella  of 


FOUNDATIONS   OF   AMERICAN   HISTORY  17 

Castile  brought  under  one  sovereignty  the  Christian  parts  of 
that  land.  In  1492,  by  the  conquest  of  the  Moorish  kingdom 
of  Granada,  the  way  was  opened  for  a  great  Spanish  kingdom. 
Twenty-seven  years  later  Charles  V.,  king  of  Spain  and  ruler 
of  the  Netherlands  (grandson  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella),  by 
his  election  as  German  Emperor,  brought  Spain  into  the  heart 
of  European  politics.  Spain  built  a  powerful  navy,  and  organ- 
ized an  infantry  which  could  defeat  knights  in  armor,  and  was 
almost  invincible  by  other  footmen ;  for  many  years  Spain  re- 
mained the  strongest  state  in  Europe. 

The  immediate  theater  of  American  history  lay  unknown 
beyond  the  Atlantic.     The  Europeans  of  the  fifteenth  century 
thought  of  the  world  as  consisting  of  only  three  parts —  „  America. 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.     It  required  a  generation  of  the  Atlantic 
explorers    after   1492  to   evolve    the    idea    that    North  s  ope 

America  is  not  part  of  Asia;  more  than  a  century  elapsed 
before  men  generally  began  to  think  of  it  in  its  true  propor- 
tions, and  its  true  relations  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  Never- 
theless the  physical  character  of  the  land  constantly  had  a 
controlling  effect  on  the  course  of  discovery  and  colonization ; 
and  therefore  it  must  be  considered  among  the  essentials  of 
American  history. 

The  Atlantic  coast  of  North  America  abounds  in  deep  and 
sheltered  bays  and  estuaries  which  make  fine  harborage,  and 
helped  the  early  settlers  in  their  seafaring.  The  coast  is  bold 
and  rugged  as  far  south  as  Cape  Ann ;  and  the  country  inland, 
as  far  south  as  the  Hudson,  is  hilly  and  stony  and  abounds  in 
waterfalls.  Farther  south  lies  a  low  coast  plain  which  gradually 
widens  till  it  reaches  Georgia,  and  thence  stretches  westward 
along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Texas.  Its  sandy  coast  is  fringed 
with  shallow  lagoons,  partly  inclosed  by  long,  narrow  islands. 

Up  to  the  foothills  of  the  Appalachians  the  south  country  is 
flat  and  fertile,  and  well  adapted  to  agriculture.  The  water 
powers  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  sluggish  rivers  afford 


20  BEGINNINGS 

natural  advantages  which  determined  the  location  of  a  line 
of  towns  and  cities,  such  as  Trenton,  Eichmond,  Petersburg, 
Raleigh,  Columbia,  Augusta,  and  Macon.  The  very  flatness 
of  the  Atlantic  coast  gave  rise  to  one  disadvantage :  innumer- 
able swamps  and  fresh-water  ponds  bred  mosquitoes;  when 
our  forefathers  sickened  with  fevers,  they  little  guessed  that 
it  was  this  insignificant  enemy  which  brought  disease,  death, 
and  often  the  ruin  of  a  colony 

Inland  the  Atlantic  coast  plain  terminates  in  the  Appalachian 
Mountain  system,  which  extends  in  a  belt  about  a  hundred 
miles  wide  from  Gaspe  Peninsula  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence 
1600  miles  southwestward  to  northern  Alabama.  The  average 
elevation  is  about  2000  feet,  the  passes  from  1500  to  3000  feet ; 
though  Mt.  Washington  and  the  North  Carolina  ranges  rise  above 
6000  feet.  The  eastern  half  of  the  system  consists  of  long, 
parallel,  and  steep-sided  mountain  ridges  ;  the  western  half  is 
an  upland  plateau  which  declines  gradually  to  the  west  and  is 
deeply  trenched  by  the  steep-sided  valleys  of  the  streams. 
Like  the  lower  coast  lands,  this  whole  highland  region  was 
originally  clothed  with  forests  which  concealed  the  lurking 
savage. 

The  west  slope  of  the  Appalachian  plateau  merges  into  a 
vast  low  plain,  which  is  drained  partly  northeastward  to 
Hudson  Bay  and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  but  chiefly 
of  North  southward  through  the  Mississippi  River  system  to  the 
America  q^£  q^  ^exjco  rrhe  wj10je  regi0n  is  characterized  by  a 
smooth  surface  and  gentle  slopes,  a  little  broken  by  the  bluffs 
along  the  streams.  The  northern  belt,  and  the  southern  as  far 
west  as  the  Ozark  Mountains,  were  originally  forest-covered ; 
but  the  central  part  from  Indiana  westward  abounded  in  tree- 
less, grassy  prairies,  which  expanded  westward  until  they 
covered  all  the  land  excepting  fringes  of  timber  along  the  water 
courses. 

This  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi  valley  is  the  most  exten- 


FOUNDATIONS   OF   AMERICAN    HISTORY  XI 

sive  tract  of  highly  fertile  land  in  the  world.  "  When  tickled 
with  a  hoe,  it  laughs  with  a  harvest ;  "  and  it  has  almost  every 
\ariety  of  soil  and  product.  The  numerous  streams  furnish 
alluvial  "  bottom  land " ;  north  of  the  Missouri  and  Ohio 
rivers  most  of  the  country  is  covered  with  glacial  deposits  — 
Nature's  wheat  fields ;  the  vast  prairies  grow  all  kinds  of 
crops,  especially  corn.  Yet  this  interior  was  a  lonely  wilder- 
ness up  to  the  close  of  the  Eevolution ;  it  became  the 
chief  area  of  settlement  from  that  time  to  the  Civil  War, 
and  is  to-day  the  home  of  about  fifty  millions  of  prosperous 
people. 

Beyond  the  Mississippi  Kiver  the  land  rises  imperceptibly 
into  a  treeless  plateau,  which,  west  of  the  100th  meridian,  is 
called  the  Great  Plains  and  is  so  dry  that  farming  is  almost 
impossible  without  irrigation.  The  bunch  grass  of  these  plains 
once  supported  countless  herds  of  wild  bison,  and  now  is  the 
pasturage  for  beef  cattle. 

The  Great  Plains  form  the  eastern  part  of  the  Eocky  Moun- 
tain Highland,  which  extends  to  within  150  miles  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  with  a  general  elevation  of  5000  feet ;  from  it  rise  the 
Rocky  Mountain  chain  in  the  eastern  part,  and  the  Sierra 
Nevada  and  Cascade  chains  on  its  western  margin.  The  high 
region  between  these  chains,  which  may  be  called  the  Interior 
Highland,  has  been  settled  chiefly  since  the  Civil  War. 

The  lofty  and  complicated  ranges  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
occupy  a  belt  of  country  from  200  to  300  miles  wide,  made 
up  of  mountains  extremely  rough  and  rugged.  Their  sum- 
mits reach  to  nearly  15,000  feet,  though  the  chain  may  be 
crossed  at  elevations  not  greater  than  from  6000  to  8000  feet. 
Among  these  mountains  the  Indians  found  large  game  for  food, 
and  small  fur-bearing  animals.  From  the  sheep  which  now 
range  the  region  the  white  man  still  draws  material  for  cloth- 
ing ;  while  in  the  upheaved  and  dislocated  strata  he  finds  our 
richest  stores  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  lead. 


22 


BEGINNINGS 


Rough  and  broken  surfaces  characterize  the  Interior  High- 
land :  the  region  is  very  dry,  some  places  having  no  rain  for 
8.  Great        months  or  even  years.      The  triangular  region  between 
Pacific"1        Snake  an(i   Colorado   rivers   and  the   Sierra  Nevada  is 
slope  called  the  Great  Basin,  because  its  meager  rainfall  col- 

lects   in    pools   and  salt  lakes  and  then  evaporates  without 
reaching  the  sea. 


Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado. 
Showing  erosion  in  a  region  of  little  rain. 

West  of  the  Interior  Highland  rises  the  precipitous  escarp- 
ment of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  Cascade  chains,  which  sink 
away  again  in  a  long  western  slope,  abundantly  watered  in 
winter  by  moist  winds  from  the  Pacific,  which  clothe  it  with 
thick  forests  of  valuable  trees.  These  chains  are  scarcely  more 
than  seventy-five  miles  wide,  but  they  rival  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains in  height  and  ruggedness.  West  of  the  crest  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada  and  Cascade  chains,  and  beyond  a  series  of  long  low- 
land valleys,  is  the  crest  of  the  low  Coast  Ranges,  which  rise 


FOUNDATIONS   OF   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


23 


steeply  from  the  Pacific  Ocean.  These  ranges  are  broken  down 
to  the  sea  at  three  places  only  — the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  the 
gorge  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  the  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca, 
which  leads  to  Puget  Sound.  Through  these  breaks  are  drained 
the  fertile  Pacific  valleys;  and  near  them  are  the  principal 
Pacific  ports. 

Through  the  forests  and  across  the  mountains  were  two  sys- 
tems of  primeval  routes  of  travel,  footpaths  and  waterways : 

(1)  Throughout  the  continent,  buffalo  paths  and  Indian       _   _ 

.  .  9.  Routes 

trails,  sometimes  only  six  inches  wide,  led  through  prairie   of  trade  and 

and  forest ;  they  often  followed  the  divides  between  the  travel 

streams,  as  being  free  from  fords.     (2)  Rivers  and  lakes  made 

a  network  of  water  routes,  on  which  plied  the  dugout  and  in 

the  north  the  Indian 

birch-bark  canoe,  one 

of  the  best  inventions 

of  any  savage  race ; 

easy  to  make,  swift  to 

paddle,  and  light   to 

"tote"  over  a  carry 

from    one    system   of 

rivers  to  another. 

For  long  east  and 
west  journeys  the  At- 
lantic streams   could 

be  followed  up  to  the  divides  separating  them  from  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  Great  Lakes  or  of  the  Ohio  River.  The  routes 
across  the  Appalachian  chain  ran  for  the  most  part  on  the 
same  lines  as  the  present  trunk-line  railroads,  especially  the 
gaps  at  the  heads  of  the  Mohawk,  Susquehanna,  Potomac,  and 
James  rivers.  By  carries  or  portages  known  to  the  Indians, 
one  could  also  pass  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  Hudson  Bay, 
or  to  the  upper  Mississippi,  or  to  the  Ohio.  Examples  of  such 
transfer  points  are  Ravenna,  Ohio,  between  the  Cuyahoga  and 


Indian  Birch-bark  Canoe  Race. 
Sketched  by  an  eyewitness  about  1830. 


24 


BEGINNINGS 


Mahoning  rivers ;  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  between  the  Maumee 
and  the  Wabash;  and  Chicago,  between  Lake  Michigan  and 
the  Des  Plaines  branch  of  the  Illinois.  At  such  places  in 
many  instances  a  white  man's  town  eventually  grew  up. 


Important  Indian  Portages. 


ucts 


The  whole  land  originally  abounded  in  wild  animals.      The 
deer  and  the  bison,  commonly  called  buffalo,  furnished  meat 
10  Ameri-    *?or  ^e  nuT1gry>  clothing  for  the  cold,  and  a  roof  for  the 
can  prod-       family  ;   the   game  birds,  of  which  the  turkey  and  the 
pigeon  were  the  most  plentiful,  increased  the  food  sup- 
ply ;  and  the  coast  waters  and  streams  abounded  in  fish  and  in 
fur-bearing  animals.     The  earth  furnished  to  the  savage  fruits 
and  berries,  corn,  pumpkins,  squashes,  and  maple  sugar  for  his 
diet,  tobacco  for  his  luxury,  herbs  and  simples  for  diseases  and 
wounds,  wood  for  his  fires  and  even  for  houses. 


FOUNDATIONS   OF   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


25 


Later  colonists  found  a  valuable  resource  and  profit  in  the 
timber  and  the  iron  ores  ;  their  descendants  discovered  coal 
and  oil,  and  precious  metals  ;  but  almost  the  only  things  the 
Indian  had  to  sell  that  the  white  man  coveted  were  deerskins 
and  furs,  especially  that  of  the  beaver.  Still  America  yielded 
three  products  not  then  known  to  the  old  world :  (1)  Corn  was 
the  plant  most  widely  sown  and  harvested  by  the  Indians, 
"  a  grain  of  general  use  to  man  and  beast."  (2)  The  potato, 
native  of  South  America,  in  the  course  of  time  became  the 
chief  food  of  millions  of  Europeans.  (3)  Tobacco,  everywhere 
much  prized  by  the  Indians,  grew  wild  or  was  negligently 
cultivated. 

The  native  inhabitants  of  America,  called  Indians  by  Colum- 
bus because  he  supposed  he  had  reached  the  Indies,  were 
throughout  of  one  race,  though  their  origin  is  a  puzzle     n   Native 

for  ethnologists.     To  be  sure,  throughout   central  North    civilization 

P  ,  i       in  America 

America  exist  a  great  number  of  mounds,  some  sepul- 
chral, some  village  sites,  some  defensive,  some  built  in  the 
outline  of  animals ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
"mound  builders"  were  different  from  the  ordinary  Indians. 


Indian  Cliff  Dwkllings.     (Near  southwest  corner  of  Colorado.) 

From  Georgia  to  Arizona  most  tribes  raised  plenty  of  food 
and  lived  in  fixed  towns,  some  southwestern  peoples  in  cliff 
dwellings.  The  descendants  of  some  of  these  tribes,  as  for 
instance  the  Zunis,  still  live  in  the  same  communal  villages 

HART'S    AMUR.    HIST. 2 


26 


BEGINNINGS 


Interior  of  Zuni  Pueblo. 
About  the  same  as  in  1492. 

or  pueblos,  and  carry  on  much  the  same  life  as  their  fore- 
fathers. 

Farther  south,  in  the  communal  city  of  Mexico,  were  the 
Aztecs,  men  of  war  who  lived  on  tribute  or  plunder  from 
neighboring  tribes,  and  reveled  in  human  sacrifice ;  they  had 
the  arts  of  making  pottery,  of  working  in  soft  metals,  of  weav- 
ing and  of  feather  work,  and  even  of  a  kind  of  picture  writing. 
In  Mexico  and  Central  America  ruined  stone  cities  mark  a 
higher  civilization,  already  decaying  when  the  white  man 
came.  These  abound  in  elaborately  carved  stone  walls,  stair- 
ways, and  monoliths,  extraordinarily  like  certain  temples  and 
idols  in  eastern  Asia.  In  South  America  native  civilization 
reached  its  highest  point  in  the  empire  of  the  Incas  in  Peru, 
who  had  an  organization  far  above  that  of  the  ordinary  In- 
dians; for  they  built  roads  and  stone  towns,  used  llamas  for 
beasts  of  burden,  and  had  a  system  of  records  made  by  knotted 
cords. 


FOUNDATIONS   OF   AMERICAN    HISTORY  27 

The  Indians  who  most  disturbed  the  English  colonists  were 
three  groups :  (1)  along  the  northern  Atlantic  coast  the  Algon- 
quin family ;    (2)  inland,  between    Lake   Erie   and   the     12.  Indian 
Hudson,  the  "Five  Nations"  of  Iroquois  ;  (3)  between  the  llfe 

Mississippi  and  the  southeast  coast  the  powerful  Cherokees,  kin 
to  the  Iroquois,  and  the  Muskogee  family,  including  the  intelli- 
gent, numerous,  and  warlike  tribes  of  Choctaws,  Creeks,  and 
Chickasaws.  All  these  Indians  were  vigorous  and  hardy  people, 
well  built,  tall,  and  handsome.  Their  clothing  was  chiefly  of 
deerskins,  supplemented  after  the  whites  came  by  the  "  match- 
coat,"  or  blanket.  They  gathered  into  villages,  living  for  the 
most  part  in  wigwams  of  bark  or  skins ;  though  some  tribes 
had  "  long  houses  "  —  rows  of  continuous  wooden  dwellings. 

The  main  occupations  of  the  Indians  were  fishing  and  hunt- 
ing and  fighting,  but  nearly  all  the  tribes  had  cornfields,  and 
some  of  them  plots  of  tobacco  and  vegetables,  all  tilled  by  the 
women.  The  Indians  were  fond  of  gayety,  lively  conversation, 
dancing,  and  open-air  games.  Real  religion  they  had  none ;  the 
early  discoverers  said  that  they  worshiped  stones  and  the  devil. 
Their  priests  were  medicine  men  who  sang,  shook  their  rattles, 
and  circled  about  the  fire  ten  or  twelve  hours  together,  "  with 
most  impetuous  and  interminate  clamours  and  howling."  In 
many  ways  the  Indians  showed  remarkable  inventive  skill. 
They  strung  bows,  fashioned  stone  arrowheads,  clubs,  and 
hatchets,  contrived  snowshoes,  made  rude  pottery,  tanned 
skins,  executed  beautiful  designs  in  beads  and  porcupine 
quills,  manufactured  maple  sugar,  plaited  nets,  carved  pipes, 
had  a  currency  of  wampum  made  from  seashells,  and,  above 
all,  invented  the  graceful  and  serviceable  bark  canoe. 

In  war  the  Indians  were  among  the  greatest  fighting  men 
of  all  history.     Their  weapons  were  the  bow  and  arrow,     13.  Indian 
club,  tomahawk,  and  stone  knife;  and  they  quickly  took        gadgoY- 
over  the  white  man's  musket  and  steel  axes  and  knives.         ernment 
Swift  and  silent  in  movement,  their  favorite  attack  was  sur- 


28  BEGINNINGS 

prise;  if  once  beaten  back,  they  were  likely  to  give  up  and 
go  home  for  the  time,  rather  than  lose  many  men.  Their 
custom  of  killing  or  enslaving  men,  women,  and  children  alike, 
was  too  often  imitated  by  their  white  enemies,  who  also  learned 
how  to  seize  the  scalp  locks  of  their  savage  adversaries.  The 
narratives  of  white  captives  are  full  of  fearful  tortures. 

Fortunately  for  the  whites,  the  Indians  were  broken  up  into 
small  political  fragments.  The  so-called  "tribes,"  often  in- 
cluding many  villages,  were  united  by  the  loosest  of  ties ;  they 
fought  among  themselves,  and  the  fundamental  idea  of  the 
Indian  was  that  every  member  of  every  other  tribe  (unless 
bound  by  friendly  treaty)  was  his  enemy ;  and  he  looked  on 
all  Englishmen  as  members  of  one  hostile  tribe.  Indeed,  the 
whole  Indian  conception  of  government  and  society  was  dif- 
ferent from  the  English.  The  tribes  were  subdivided  into  clans, 
or  "  totems,"  and  families,  and  the  tribal  councils  were  mere 
"powwows,"  for  the  decision  bound  nobody;  yet  discussion 
and  decision  were  backed  up  by  a  powerful  public  opinion. 
The  tribal  lands  were  usually  only  the  territory  over  which  the 
tribe  habitually  ranged ;  nobody  "  owned  "  land  in  the  English 
sense. 

The  chiefs  were  not  hereditary,  but  in  part  members  of  dis- 
tinguished clans  and  families,  in  part  simply  able  men  who 
pushed  themselves  forward.  They  had  no  recognized  power  to 
compel  obedience,  and  hence  treaties  with  the  English  were 
always  hard  to  enforce.  Few  Indians  have  come  down  in 
history  as  leaders  of  their  people.  Wahunsonacock,  commonly 
called  Powhatan  by  the  Virginians,  George  Guess  who  invented 
an  alphabet,  King  Philip  in  New  England,  Pontiac  and  Corn 
Planter  in  the  West,  and  later  Tecumthe,  Chief  Joseph,  and 
Geronimo  are  almost  the  only  great  names. 


From    about   1450  to  1500  the  conditions  in   Europe  were 
especially  favorable  for  discovery  and  commercial  adventure. 


FOUNDATIONS   OF   AMERICAN    HISTORY  29 

Europe  was  ready  for  new  fields  of  activity ;  and  by  1500  each 
of  the  four  nations  on  the  western  sea  front— England,  France, 
Spain,  and  Portugal  —  had  a  consolidated  royal  power,  14.  Sum- 
capable  of  directing  new  enterprises.  Each  had  also  an 
eager,  seafaring  people,  acquainted  with  new  arts  of  navigation. 
The  closing  of  the  overland  route  to  Asia  by  the  Turks  aroused 
the  people  to  the  necessity  of  a  route  by  sea ;  and  a  belief  that 
the  world  is  round  suggested  a  western  voyage  to  India. 

But  between  Europe  and  India,  all  unknown  and  undevel- 
oped, lay  the  two  Americas,  occupied  by  savage  tribes,  who 
were  skilled  in  the  warfare  of  the  woods,  and  ready  to  contest 
with  all  their  might  any  attempt  to  set  foot  upon  their  terri- 
tory. Yet  the  central  belt  of  this  broad  land  that  stretched 
from  the  25th  parallel  to  the  49th,  and  through  fifty  degrees  of 
longitude,  had  the  soil  and  climate  which  have  later  made  pos- 
sible the  cotton  of  Texas,  the  wheat  of  Minnesota,  the  corn  of 
Indiana,  the  Maine  potato,  and  the  olive  groves  of  California. 

TOPICS 

(I)  What  made  Spain  a  great  nation  ?     (2)  When  and  how  did    Suggestive 
the  Renaissance  reach  England?     (3)   When  and  where  was  gun-     °P1CS 
powder  first  used  in  European  warfare  ?     (4)  What  are  some  of 

the  earliest  printed  travels  ?  (5)  How  did  the  mariners'  compass 
come  into  use  ?  (6)  What  are  the  best  waterways  (with  por- 
tages) from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  ?  (7)  Name  the  principal 
peaks  of  the  Appalachians.  (8)  What  are  the  easiest  passes  across 
the  Appalachians  ?  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  ?  (9)  The  prin- 
cipal "carries"  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  tributaries  of  the 
Mississippi.     (10)  Indian  remains  in  your  neighborhood. 

(II)  Life  in  a  present-day  pueblo.       (12)  Adventures  of  Marco    Search 
Polo.     (13)   Who  wrote  the    Travels  of  Sir  John  Mandeville  ?     opicl 
(14)  Career  of   Prince  Henry  the  Navigator.      (15)  First  Euro- 
pean visitors  to  Niagara  Falls.     (16)  First  European  explorations 

in  the  Appalachian  Mountains.  (17)  How  to  make  a  birch-bark 
canoe.  (18)  Introduction  of  tobacco  into  Europe.  (19)  The  Ser- 
pent Mound.  (20)  Ancient  stone  buildings  and  monuments  in 
Mexico  and  Central  America.  (21)  Peruvian  roads  and  buildings. 
(22)  Modern  cities  on  the  sites  of  Indian  villages. 


30 


BEGINNINGS 


Geography 


Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  10, 11,  15,  18,  19,  21 ;  Brigham,  Geographic  Influ- 
ences ;  Epoch  Maps,  no.  1  ;  Cheyney,  European  Background ; 
Farrand,  Basis  of  American  History. 

Thwaites,  Colonies,  §§  2-5;  Fisher,  Colonial  Era,  1-11  ;  Fiske, 
Discovery  of  America,  I.  1-147,  II.  294-364  ;  Doyle,  English  in 
America,  I.  5-17;  Winsor,  America,  IV.  i-xxx;  Farrand,  Basis 
of  American  History;  Shaler,  Nature  and  Man.  in  America, 
166-283,  —  United  States,  I.  1-272,  417-517  ;  Cheyney,  European 
Background  ;  Higginson,  Larger  History,  1-26  ;  Hinsdale,  How  to 
Study  and  Teach  History,  174-203  ;  Morgan,  American  Aborigines. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §  9,  —  Source  Beaders,  I.  §§  8,  19-33,  37- 
44,  III.  §§  57-69  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  30,  32.  See  Channing 
and  Hart,  Guide,  §§  21-216,  77-80  ;  New  England  History  Teachers* 
Association,  Syllabus,  167,  168,  293,  —  Historical  Sources,  §65. 

Longfellow,  Hiawatha  ;  Whittier,  Bridal  of  Pennacock ;  C.  G. 
Leland,  Algonquin  Legends  of  New  England;  C.  F.  Lummis, 
Strange  Corners  of  our  Country. 

McKenney  and  Hall,  History  and  Biography  of  the  Indian 
Tribes ;  Catlin,  North  American  Indians ;  Winsor,  America^  I. 


(#-^fc 


Ancient  Peruvian  Jar 
Perhaps  a  portrait. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   CENTURY   OF   DISCOVERY  (1492-1605) 

The  existence  of  a  Western  Continent  was  till  about  1500  un- 
dreamed of  in  Europe,  although  there  was  in  far-off  Iceland  a 
"  saga,"  or  document  based  on  memorized  tradition,  showing      15.  Fore- 
how,  in  the  year  1000,  Leif  Erikson  —  "  Leif  the  Lucky  "    rXcovery 
—  reached  the  mainland  of  North  America;  and  how  in  (1000-1492) 
1007  one  Karlsefni  landed  there  in  a  fine  country  (which  has 
never  been  identified)  abounding  in  flat  stones  and  grapes,  and 
fierce  natives.     No  evidence  has  ever  been  found  to  show  that 
Leif's  discovery  was  known  to  Italian  or  Spanish  navigators. 
Their  incentive  to  western  voyages  was  the  hope  of  finding  a 
direct  western  route  to  India,  especially  after  Bartholomew 
Diaz  of  Portugal  reached  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  (1487)  and 
saw   a  broad   sea  beyond,   promising   a  practicable    indirect 
route. 

To  Christopher  Columbus,  born  (about  1446)  in  the  Italian 
city  of  Genoa,  is  due  the  credit  of  applying  the  science  of  his 
time  to  the  problem  of  reaching  India.  Before  he  was  thirty 
years  old  he  formed  a  plan  of  sailing  westward  to  Asia,  which 
he  calculated  to  be  twenty-five  hundred  miles  distant  from 
Europe.  Directly,  or  through  his  brother  Bartholomew,  he 
appealed  to  the  kings  of  Portugal,  Spain,  England,  and  France 
to  fit  him  out;  and  all  declined  the  splendid  opportunity. 
Finally,  he  turned  again  to  Spain  and  appealed  to  the  mission- 
ary zeal  of  Queen  Psabella  in  behalf  of  the  distant  heathen,  and 
held  out  to  her  counselors  the  rich  results  of  conquest  and 
power.  In  behalf  of  her  kingdom  of  Castile,  Isabella  at  last 
agreed  to  fit  out  an  expedition. 

31 


32 


BEGINNINGS 


Furnished  with  the  queen's   money   and   armed   with   her 

authority,  Columbus  got  together  three  little  vessels,  the  Santa 

16.  Colum-     Maria,  Nina,  and  Pinta,  carrying  90  men  in  all.      He 

coverer  **'    sailed  from  Palos,  August  3,  1492,  and  from  the  Canary 

(1492-1506)  Islands  five  weeks  later;  thenceforward  his  sole  reliance 

was  his  own  unconquerable  will.     As  the  crews  grew  muti- 


Departure  of  Columbus. 
From  De  Bry's  Voyages,  1590. 

nous  the  admiral   cajoled  and  threatened,   and  even    under- 
stated the  ship's  daily  run. 

On  Friday,  October  12,  1492  (old  style),  thirty-three  days 
after  losing  sight  of  land,  and  distant  3230  nautical  miles  from 
Am  Hist       ^^os:  the  caravels  came  upon  an  island,  to  which,  says 
Leaflets,         Columbus,  "  I  gave  the  name  of  San  Salvadore,  in  com- 
memoration of  his  Divine  Majesty  who  has  wonderfully 
granted  all  this.     The  Indians  call  it  Guanahan."     This  land- 


no.  l 


THE  CENTURY   OF  DISCOVERY  33 

fall  was  probably  Watling  Island  of  the  Bahama  group.  A 
few  days  later  Columbus  reached  the  coast  of  Cuba,  and  then 
Hispaniola,  or  Haiti.  He  was  deeply  disappointed  not  to  find 
towns  and  civilized  communities,  for  to  the  day  of  his  death 
Columbus  supposed  that  he  had  hit  on  the  coast  of  Asia.  Thus 
was  America  discovered,  as  an  unforeseen  incident  in  the 
voyage  of  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  in  history. 

In  September,  1493,  Columbus  set  out  a  second  time  with 
17  vessels  and  1500  men,  founded  Isabella  in  Haiti,  the  first 
city  of  Europeans  in  America,  set  up  a  government  there,  and 
discovered  Porto  Rico,  Jamaica,  and  some  of  the  Lesser  An- 
tilles. On  a  third  voyage  (1498),  he  reached  South  America, 
and  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco.  His  colony  in  His- 
paniola, including  the  permanent  city  of  Santo  Domingo,  fell 
into  confusion,  and  Columbus  was  sent  home  in  chains,  and 
for  a  time  was  in  disgrace.  He  made,  however,  a  fourth  voy- 
age (1502),  in  search  of  a  water  passage  to  India,  which  carried 
him  to  the  coast  of  Honduras,  and  to  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 
Four  years  later  he  died  in  Spain,  and  his  bones,  after  wander- 
ings in  the  West  Indies,  now  rest  in  the  Cathedral  of  Seville. 

Meantime  the  Portuguese  were  trying  to  reach  the  gold  and 
spice  islands  by  sailing  eastward,  and  they  claimed  a  monopoly 
of  the  discoveries  that  they  might  make.     In  May,  1493,        17.  Por- 
the  Pope  issued  a  bull  in  which  he  assumed  the  authority  tague*(Jv™ 
to  divide  the  non-Christian  world  between  Portugal  and  (1493-1500) 
Spain,  by  a  north  and  south  line  through  the  Atlantic.     A 
year  later,  in  the  treaty  of  Tordesillas,  made  directly  between 
Spain  and  Portugal,  it  was  agreed  that  the  line  of  de-      jiarrisse'.^ 
marcation  should  run  "  from  pole  to  pole,  370  leagues  west    Diplomatic 
from  the  Cape  Verde  Islands."     The  rivalry  foreseen  by     m8tor^*  7S 
the  treaty  was  realized  in  1497  when  the  Portuguese  Vasco  da 
Gama  passed  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  shortly  reached 
India ;  soon  Portuguese  trading  ports  were  established  in  Asia. 
Then  Cabral,  one  of  the  Portuguese  voyagers  to  India,  hit  on 


Amazon 


(Putosi) 


W 

^ 


EARJLI  VOYAGES 

TO  AMERICA 


SCALE  OF  MILES 

5         E5o       lotoo 

1  Columbus's  First  Voyage  1492 

2  "         Second      "      1493-96 

3  Cabots  1497-98 

4  Vespucius  for  Spain  1499 

5  Columbus's  Third  Vovage  1498-00 

6  Cabral  1500 

7  Vespucius  for  Portugal  1501-02 

8  Columbus's  Fourth  Voyage  1502-04 

9  Pineda.1519 

10  MagellanJ519-22 
i  11  Verrazano  1524 

12  Carrier's  First  Voyage  1534-35 

13  "      Second     "       1535-36 


:J1 


THE   CENTURY   OF   DISCOVERY  35 

the  coast  of  Brazil  (1500),  which  he  thought  was  an  Asiatic 
island ;  later  it  was  found  that  the  line  of  Tordesillas  ran  to 
the  west  of  the  Brazilian  coast,  which  was  therefore  left  to  the 
Portuguese  to  settle. 

The  announcement  that  Columbus  had  reached  Asia  aroused 
new  national  rivalries,  and  it  was  followed  by  many  western 
voyages.     Henry  VII.   of  England   never  regarded  the         18.  The 
papal  bull  of  1493  or  the  treaty  of  Tordesillas  as  binding     ^gpuclus 
him;  and  in  1496  he  gave  authority  to  the  Venetian  navi-  (1497-1507) 
gator  John  Cabot  and  his  three  sons  "to  sail  to  all  parts, 
regions,   and   waters   of  the  eastern,   western,   and   southern 
seas,  and  to  discover  any  heathen  regions  which  up  to  this  time 
have  remained  unknown  to  Christians."     Though  this  voyage 
later  became  the  basis  of  the  English  claims  to  North  America, 
we  know  only  that  Cabot  came  back  in  1497  and  reported  "  that 
700  leagues  hence  he  discovered  land,  the  territory  of  the  grand 
Chan.     He  coasted  for  300  leagues  and  landed  [probably  „ 

on  the  island  of  Cape  Breton]  and  found  two  very  large         tempora- 
and  fertile   new  islands."      The  next  year  Cabot's  son 
Sebastian  is  supposed  to  have  mado  a  voyage  farther  south, 
probably  as  far  as  the  coast  of  Virginia;  but  of  his  discoveries, 
if  he  made  any,  we  have  no  contemporary  accounts. 

The  Venetian  Americus  Vespucius  coasted  large  parts  of 
South  America  from  1499  to  1507  in  behalf  of  Spain  and  then 
of  Portugal.  He  published  several  letters  describing  his  dis- 
coveries and,  apparently  without  his  own  expectation,  furnished 
a  name  which  gradually  supplanted  the  term  "New  World" 
used  by  Columbus  and  others.  An  Alsatian  geographer,  realiz- 
ing that  a  new  continent  had  been  discovered,  suggested  in  1507 
that  the  new  fourth  part  of  the  world  be  called  "  Amerige,  that 
is,  the  land  of  Americus,  or  America."  This  suggestion,  in- 
tended to  applv  to  the  eastern  part  of  South  America,  was 
gradually  extended  to  all  of  South  America,  and  then  to  the 
entire  western  continent. 


36  BEGINNINGS 

By  the  year  1514  most  of  the  islands  of  the  Caribbean  Sea, 

and  the  coast  from  Mexico  to  the  Plata,  had  been  visited; 

19.  Spanish  so  tna^  *ne  Spaniards  began  to  realize  that  wherever  they 

discoveries     sailed  far  enough  west,  they  struck  land,  perhaps  a  con- 
and  con- 
quests tinuous.  continent.     The  region  about  Darien  failed  to 

(1513-1532)  disciose  a  strait,  and  in  1513  Balboa  crossed  the  narrow 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  looked  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Fail- 
ing to  penetrate  directly  westward,  the  Spaniards  in  1519  sent 
Magellan  with  a  small  fleet  to  coast  America  southward;  he 
discovered  and  traversed  the  strait  to  which  he  gave  his  name, 
entered  and  named  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  then  sailed  up  the 
west  coast  of  South  America,  and  westward  until  he  reached 
the  Ladrones  and  the  Philippine  Islands  (1521).  One  of 
Magellan's  vessels  got  home  to  Spain  via  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  —  the  first  circumnavigation  of  the  globe.  At  last  the 
true  Indies  had  been  reached  by  sailing  west,  and  the  Philip- 
pines speedily  became  a  Spanish  colony,  regularly  communi- 
cating with  the  home  country  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 

An  era  of  Spanish  exploration  and  conquest  within  North 
America  began  with  a  fruitless  expedition  by  Ponce  de  Leon 
in  Florida  (1512),  and  a  voyage  by  Pineda,  who  skirted  the 
north  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  (1519).  The  first  permanent 
lodgment  was  the  romantic  occupation  of  Mexico  by  Hernando 
Cortez  in  1519.  With  450  men  and  15  horses  he  inarched  up 
and  took  the  stronghold  of  Mexico,  smashed  the  rude  political 
organization  of  the  Aztecs,  and  set  up  the  Catholic  religion. 

In  1532  a  Spanish  force  of  200  men  and  60  horses,  under 
Francisco  Pizarro,  penetrated  and  conquered  Peru,  and  looted 
a  large  quantity  of  gold  ;  here  also  the  native  government  was 
overthrown  and  a  permanent  Spanish  viceroyalty  set  up. 

The  Spaniards  sent  several  expeditions  to  explore  the  south- 
ern part  of  what  is  now  the  United  States,  and  thus  they 
secured  a  first  title  to  that  region.  (1)  De  Ayllon  attempted 
to  found  a  colony  on  Chesapeake  Bay  (1526).     (2)  Narvaez 


THE   CENTURY   OF    DISCOVERY  37 

with  a  party  explored  the  land  north  of  the  Gnlf  coast,  and 
passed  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  probably  the  first  white 
man  to  see  that  river  (1528).     (3)  Ferdinando  de  Soto,   2Q  Spanign 
with  a  force  of  620  men,  marched  inland  from  the  coast        explora- 
of  Florida;  and  in  1541  penetrated  to  and  then  beyond  tarthm 

the  Mississippi.     (4)  In  1540  Coronado,  incited  by  tales  north 

Q526-1592) 
of  seven  rich  and  wonderful  "cities  of  Cibola,"  went  north- 
ward from  Mexico,  but  found  the  cities  to  be  only  Indian  pueblos, 
of  which  some  are  standing  yet;  he  penetrated  to  the  country 
of  Quivira  (Kansas)  which  abounded  in  "  crook-backed  cows  " 
(buffalo).  The  expedition  led  to  the  founding  of  the  town 
of  Santa  Fe  in  1572.  (5)  From  1533  to  1592  the  Pacific  coast 
was  visited  by  Spaniards  as  far  north  as  Puget  Sound. 

The  West  Indies,  as  the  Spanish  possessions  in  the  new 
world  were  generally  called,  made  the  Spanish  kingdom  the 
richest  of  all  European  countries  and  enabled  the  Spaniards 
for  a  century  to  take  the  leading  place  in  Europe.  The  gold 
of  Mexico  and  Peru  was  quickly  swept  up  and  spent ;  but  in 
1545  the  enormously  rich  silver  mines  of  Potosi,  in  Peru,  were 
opened,  and  later  good  silver  mines  were  found  in  Mexico. 
By  1550  Spanish  colonies  were  established  in  Mexico  and 
Central  America,  on  the  west  and  north  coasts  of  South 
America,  and  on  the  lower  Plata. 

Meanwhile,  about  twenty  years  after  Columbus's  first  voyage, 
a  mighty  change  was  begun  in  Europe  through  the  Protestant 
Reformation.     In  the  end,  the  peoples  of  northwestern    gl  Frencn 
Europe  became  mostly  Protestant,  while  those  of  the  south       discovery 
remained  Catholic.      France,  however,  as  well  as  England 
ignored  the  papal  division  of  1493  and  the  treaty  of  Torde- 
sillas.     In  1524  King  Francis  I.  dispatched  Verrazano,  a  Flor- 
entine, with  a  fleet  which  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  explored 
an  unknown  coast  including  New  York  Harbor,  a  bay,  he      contempo- 
said,  in  "a  very  pleasant  situation  among  some  steep  rariesj.  ios 
hills,  through  which  a  very  large  river,  deep  at  its  mouth, 


38  BEGINNINGS 

forced  its  way  to  the  sea."  Much  farther  north  the  French 
captain  Jacques  Cartier  found  islands,  firm  land,  and  a  river 
(1534),  and  the  next  year  "a  goodly  great  gulf,  full  of  islands, 
passages,  and  entrances,"  which  he  named  St.  Lawrence; 
thence  he  entered  "  the  great  river  Hochelaga  and  ready  way 
to  China."  His  progress  was  stopped  by  the  rapids  later 
dubbed  Lachine  ("Chinese"),  near  a  hill  which  he  called 
Mount  Eoyal,  now  Montreal. 

France  had  a  Catholic  king,  but  a  body  of  French  "  Hugue- 
nots," or  Protestants,  with  the  consent  of  the  king  planted 
an  unsuccessful  colony  under  Jean  Ribault  at  Port  Royal, 
now  in  South  Carolina  (1562).  Two  years  later,  under  Laudon- 
niere,  the  French  returned  and  built  a  second  Port  Royal  on  the 
«  River  May"  (St.  Johns)  in  Florida.  This  was  a  flat  defiance 
of  the  Spaniards,  who  founded  (1565)  the  frontier  town  of  St. 
Augustine  to  confront  the  French ;  this  town,  still  in  existence, 
is  the  oldest  within  the  mainland  boundaries  of  the  United 
States.  Menendez,  the  Spanish  governor,  then  uprooted  the 
French  colony ;  and  the  French  never  regained  the  opportunity 
of  settling  the  southern  Atlantic  coast. 

The  monopoly  of  American  trade  and  colonization  by  Spain 
aroused  the  spirit  of  the  English,  especially  when  under  Philip 
22  English  II.  (1556-1598)  Spain  became  the  great  Catholic  power  of 
freebooters    Ellr0Pe-     Nominally  at  peace,  English  vessels  constantly 
(1566-1580)  traded  with  Spanish  colonies  against  the  will  of  the  Span- 
ish government,  and  preyed  on  Spanish  commerce  in  the  western 
seas.     The  feeling  of  rivalry  with  Spain  was  expressed  in  a 
charter  granted  by  Parliament  in  1566  to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert 
and  his  associates  in  a  company  to  open  a  northwest  passage 
around  America  to  India,  and  to  discover  new  lands,  which  were 
to  be  an  English  colony.    Ten  years  later  Sir  Martin  Frobisher 
made  three  voyages  on  the  same  quest,  penetrating  as  far  as 
Hudson  Strait.     For  nearly  three  centuries  the  English  never 
quite  abandoned  the  idea  of  a  short  water  route  to  Asia. 


THE  CENTURY   OF  DISCOVERY  39 

One  of  the  boldest  adventurers  and  bravest  fighters  was  Sir 
John  Hawkins,  who  made  several  profitable  voyages  to  the 
Spanish  colonies  with  African  slaves.  His  five  ships  were 
caught  in  the  Mexican  port  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa  by  thir- 
teen Spanish  ships;  he  fought  them  all  and  escaped  with 
two  vessels  (1568).  One  of  Hawkins's  captains  was  Francis 
Drake,  who  in  1572  sailed  off  again  to  prey  on  Spanish  com- 
merce. Pirate-like  he  harried  the  Spanish  mainland,  cap- 
tured Spanish  vessels  and  mule  trains,  and  carried  off  gold, 
silver,  and  merchandise.  Nevertheless,  on  his  return  to 
England  Drake  was  pardoned  by  Queen  Elizabeth  and  held 
in  favor. 

The  slow  downfall  of  Spain  may  be  said  to  have  begun  when 
the  Netherlands  revolted  and  formed  a  union  of  the  provinces 
against  the  Spanish  (1576).  The  English  government  sym- 
pathized and  aided  ;  then  individual  Englishmen  took  an  active 
part  in  the  pulling  down  of  Spain.  In  1577  with  the  queen's 
approval,  though  without  a  royal  commission,  Drake  set  off 
with  a  little  fleet;  he  rounded  South  America,  passed  through 
the  Strait  of  Magellan  with  his  one  remaining  ship,  and  was  the 
first  to  see  Cape  Horn,  and  to  find  the  open  sea  to  the  south  of 
it.  The  story  of  Drake's  next  exploits  sounds  like  the  Arabian 
Nights,  and  is  gemmed  with  such  phrases  as  "  thirteene 
chests  full  of  royals  of  plate,  foure  score  pound  weight  tempora- 
of  golde,  and  sixe  and  twentie  tunne  of  siluer."  He  sailed  nes'  '  85 
up  the  unfortified  west  coast  of  South  America,  capturing 
coasters,  terrifying  towns,  taking  one  prize  worth  a  million 
dollars  on  its  voyage  from  the  Philippines,  and  throwing  the 
Spaniards  into  a  panic. 

Running  far  to  the  north,  in  hope  of  finding  a  passage  through 
or  around  America  to  England,  he  put  into  a  bay  just  north 
of  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco  to  repair  his  ships,  and  called 
the  country  New  Albion.  Thence  he  struck  boldly  westward 
across  the  Pacific,  sailed  through  the  Philippines  and  the  Spice 


40 


BEGINNINGS 


Islands,  and  then  home  again  (1580)  around  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  the  first  Englishman  to  circumnavigate  the  globe.  Queen 
Elizabeth  formally  knighted  him,  and  thus  proclaimed  him  an 
English  hero   fighting  for   his   sovereign. 

The  next  step  towards  colonization  was  a  vain  attempt  at 
planting  an  English  settlement  in  Newfoundland  under  a  new 
fostTEn  charter  granted  to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  (1578).     His 

lish colonies  half-brother,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  then  got  from  the  queen 
(1578-1587)   a  new  "patent/'  or  grant  of  lands  (1584),  authorizing 
Poore, 
Charters 
and  Consti 


him  to  colonize  "remote  heathen    and  barbarous   lands 
not  actually  possessed  of  any  Christian   Prince." 
tutions,  1379  Forthwith  he  sent   out  two  vessels,  under  Amidas  and 
Barlowe,  to  find  a  proper  place  for  a  colony,  and  they  fixed  on 

Roanoke  Island.  On  their 
return  and  favorable  re- 
port Queen  Elizabeth  coy- 
ly named  the  new  land 
for  herself,  "  Virginia." 

Thrice  did  Raleigh  send 
out  actual  colonists  to 
Roanoke.  A  settlement  of 
1585  with  100  men  failed 
and  the  settlers  came 
back;  a  smaller  settle- 
ment of  1586  disappeared ; 
in  1587  he  sent  out  a  col- 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  about  1590.  0ny  commanded  by  John 

Type  of  the  English  gentleman  of  his  time.      Wh[te>    w[th    WQ   ^^ 

including  seventeen  women,  one  of  whom  gave  birth  to  Vir- 
ginia Dare,  the  first  English  child  born  on  American  soil. 
All  the  members  of  this  colony  who  remained  in  America  dis- 
appeared in  1588,  and  their  fate  to  this  day  is  uncertain. 

The  harrying  of  the  commerce  of  Spain  inevitably  led  to 
war,  and  the  crisis  came  in  1587  when  Philip  II.  resolved  to 


THE   CENTURY   OF   DISCOVERY 


41 


(1587-1604) 


invade  England  and  destroy  the  plague  of  English  sea  rovers  at 
its  source.    The  proposed  invasion  took  the  form  of  a  religious 
crusade  by  a  mighty  Spanish  fleet  called  the  Invincible        g4  War 
Armada.     The  Armada  sailed  from  Corunna  in  1588,  —     with  Spain 
149  vessels,  carrying  30,000  men,  —  and  made  its  way 
in  half-moon  formation  up  the  English  Channel.     It  was  beset 
by  an  enemy  as  brave  as  the  Spaniards  and  much  more  nim- 
ble; for  the  English 
received  their  guests 
with  197  ships  and 
16,000  men,  mostly 
trained  seamen.  The 
English  finally  sent 
fire  ships  among  the 
Spaniards,  and  drove 
them   out   into   the 
North    Sea,    where 
many   of    the    fleet 
were  burned,  taken, 
or   sunk.      The   de- 
moralized   remnant 
made     off     to     the 


English  War  Ship  of  1588. 
From  tapestries  in  the  old  House  of  Lords. 


northward  in  order  to  return  to  Spain  around  Scotland.  Fear- 
ful tempests  drove  many  vessels  on  the  coasts,  where  the  wild 
inhabitants  massacred  most  of  the  survivors.  The  commander 
in  chief  arrived  in  Spain  at  last ;  and  gradually  67  ships  out  of 
the  fleet  crept  into  port. 

The  war  meanwhile  had  extended  to  the  colonies,  and  it 
lasted  for  seventeen  years.  Drake  took  and  plundered  the  city 
of  Santo  Domingo,  the  richest  in  the  new  world,  and  also  the 
city  of  Carthagena,  the  capital  of  the  Spanish  West  Indies. 

The  new  king  of  Spain,  Philip  III.,  and  the  new  king  of 
England,  James  I.  (1603),  both  desired  peace ;  but  the  Span- 
iards  long  insisted   that   the  English  should   agree   to  keep 


42  BEGINNINGS 

Englishmen  from  traveling  to  the  Spanish  colonies,  or  settling 
in  territory  claimed  by  Spain.  On  both  points  the  English 
stood  firm ;  and  in  1(504  a  treaty  of  peace  was  made  without 
either  of  the  desired  pledges.  Thus  the  way  was  opened  for 
the  foundation  of  the  later  United  States  in  territory  then 
claimed  by  Spain. 

By  the  year  1600  the  geography  and  conditions  of  North 
America  became  clearer,  especially  through  the  diligence  of 
25.  Rival       Richard  Hakluyt,  an  English  gentleman  who  published 
Amer'S  t0       a  ^amous  collection  of  narratives  of  voyages ;  and  the 
(1584-1605)   various  nations  began   to  bring  forward  arguments  for 
their  claims  to  America.     France  talked  about  the  effect  of 
the  voyages  of  Verrazano  and  Cartier ;  Spain  urged  the  Pope's 
bull  of  1493  and  her  early  explorations,  assuming  that  coasts 
once    skirted  by  Spanish  ships  remained  Spanish,  and  that 
the  territories  inland  from  such  coasts  were  Spanish  to  eter- 
nity. 

Against  these  sweeping  claims  Hakluyt  in  1584  asserted 
that  "  one  Cabot  and  the  English  did  first  discover  the  shores 
about  the  Chesapeake " ;  and  a  contemporary  writer  set  forth 
the  English  title  to  Virginia  as  follows :  (1)  first  discovery 
by  the  subjects  of  Henry  VII.  (1497) ;  (2)  voyages  under 
Elizabeth  "  to  the  mainland  and  infinite  islands  of  the  West 
Indies " ;  (3)  the  voyage  of  Amadas  and  Barlowe  (1584) ; 
(4)  the  actual  settlement  of  the  White  colony  (1587) ;   (5)   a 

broad  claim  that  the  coast  and  the  ports  of  Virginia  had 
Discourse  r  ° 

of  Western     been  long   discovered,  peopled,  and  possessed  by  many 
an  ing        English.     On  the  Pope's  bull  the  writer  said,  "  if  there 
be  a  law  that  the  Pope  may  do  what  he  list,  let  them  that  list 
obey  him." 

As  assertions  of  the  English  claims,  three  more  attempts 
were  made  by  individuals  to  plant  colonies  in  America: 
(1)  Bartholomew  Gosnold  in  1602  spent  a  little  time  on  the 
island  of  Cuttyhunk ;    (2)   Martin  Pring  in  1603  entered  the 


THE   CENTURY   OF   DISCOVERY  43 

Penobscot;  (3)  in  1605  George  Weymouth  visited  the  coast 
of  Maine.  All  these  efforts  failed;  the  country  was  too  cold 
for  comfort,  and  the  English  as  yet  had  too  little  experience 
of  colonizing.  

The  discovery  of   America  by  Columbus  in  1492  was  an 
accident   brought  about  by  attempting   to  reach  the  known 
lands  of  eastern  Asia  by  sailing  west,  in  the  belief  that        26.  Sum- 
the  earth  is  a  globe.     But  to  Columbus  is  due  the  credit  mary 

of  acting  on  his  belief.  The  discovery  of  an  eastern  route  by 
the  Portuguese  Vasco  -da  Gama  was  a  stimulus  to  further  at- 
tempts to  reach  the  Spice  Islands  by  sailing  westward;  and 
led  to  voyage  after  voyage  of  Spaniards,  English,  Portuguese, 
and  Frenchmen,  each  successful  explorer  enlarging  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  American  coast  line  and  the  islands. 

Geographers  took  up  the  course  of  discovery  and  registered 
it  on  rude  maps.  Before  1600  Spain  alone  established  perma- 
nent colonies,  which  chanced  to  be  rich  in  precious  metals.  The 
wealth  of  the  West  Indies  made  Spain  great  and  yet  prepared 
the  way  for  her  downfall ;  for  the  English  attacked,  first  Spanish 
commerce,  then  the  colonies,  then  the  home  country;  and  in 
1588  established  the  naval  supremacy  of  England.  Thence- 
forth the  sea  was  free  as  far  as  an  English  ship  could  ride,  and 
the  way  was  prepared  for  English  colonization. 

TOPICS 

(1)  What  do  the  Icelandic  sagas  say  of  America?  (2)  Why  did  Suggestive 
not  Henry  VII.  of  England  send  out  Columbus?  (3)  How  did  t0Pics 
Columbus  raise  men  for  his  expedition  ?  (4)  How  did  Balboa 
discover  the  Pacific?  (5)  How  did  the  Philippine  Islands  become 
Spanish  ?  (6)  Cortez's  capture  of  the  city  of  Mexico.  (7)  Pizar- 
ro's  treatment  of  Atahualpa.  (8)  Capture  of  Port  Royal  by  the 
Spanish.  (9)  Were  the  Spaniards  justified  in  fighting  Sir  John 
Hawkins  at  San  Juan  de  Ulloa?  (10)  Why  did*  the  Invincible 
Armada  fail  ? 

hart's  amer.  hist. — 8 


44 


BEGINNINGS 


Search 
topics 


(11)  Where  did  Leif  Erikson  land?  (12)  Columbus's  own 
accounts  of  his  discoveries.  (13)  Was  Americus  Vespucius  truth- 
ful ?  (14)  What  kind  of  people  were  the  Mexicans  ?  (15)  Where 
did  De  Soto  cross  the  Mississippi?  (16)  Present  state  of  the 
"Seven  Cities  of  Cibola."  (17)  The  Spanish  silver  mines. 
(18)  Early  descriptions  of  New  York  Harbor.  (19)  Drake's 
quarrel  with  Fletcher.  (20)  Profits  of  Drake's  voyages  around 
the  globe.  (21)  Accounts  of  the  Armada  by  eyewitnesses. 
(22)  Did  Sebastian  Cabot  discover  the  coast  of  Virginia  ? 


Geography- 


Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  34,  45  ;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  1-18 ; 
Epoch  Maps,  no.  2  ;  Bourne,  Spain  in  America. 

Thwaites,  Colonies,  §§  7-12,  14-16  ;  Fisher,  Colonial  Era,  12- 
29  ;  Bourne,  Spain  in  America  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  I.  1-33  ; 
Larned,  History  for  Heady  Eeference,  I.  47  ;  Sparks,  Expansion, 
17-35  ;  Eggleston,  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  1-24  ;  Winsor,  America, 
II.  III.  1-126,  IV.  1-103,  —  Columbus,  —  Cartier  to  Frontenac,  1- 
76  ;  Fiske,  Discovery  of  America,  I.  147-516,  II.  1-293,  365-569,  — 
Old  Virginia,  I.  1-40;  Doyle,  English  in  America,  I.  18-100; 
Parkman,  Pioneers  of  France,  9-228  ;  Higginson,  Larger  History, 
26-120 ;  Reeves,  Finding  of  Wineland ;  Markham,  Christopher 
Columbus;  Major,  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator;  Corbett,  Sir 
Francis  Drake ;  Creighton,  Sir  Walter  Ralegh. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  1-4,  1 ,— Contemporaries,  I.  §§16-36,  44- 
48,  —  Source  Readers,  I.  §§  1-9,  55,  56  ;  American  History  Leaflets, 
nos.  1,  3,  9,  13  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  17,  20,  29,  31,  33-37,  39, 
71,  90,  92,  102,  115-120,  122;  Higginson,  American  Explorers,  1- 
228 ;  Payne,  Elizabethan  Seamen.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers' 
Ass'n,  Syllabus,  293-296,  —  Historical  Sources,  §§  66,  67. 

Longfellow,  Skeleton  in  Armor,  —  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert ;  Ten- 
nyson, Columbus  ;  Lowell,  Columbus,  —  Voyage  to  Vinland  ;  R.  M. 
Ballantyne,  Erling  the  Bold  (Iceland),  —  Norsemen  in  the  West ; 
S.  Baring-Gould,  Grettir  the  Outlaw  (Iceland)  ;  Lewis  Wallace, 
Fair  God  (Mexico)  ;  Cooper,  Mercedes  of  Castile  ;  Gordon  Stables, 
Westward  with  Columbus  ;  Simms,  Vasconselos  (De  Soto)  ;  Kings- 
ley,  Westward  Hot  (English  and  Spaniards)  ;  James  Barnes, 
Drake  and  his  Yeomen  ;  Kirk  Munroe,  Flamingo  Feather  (Hugue- 
nots in  Florida). 

Winsor,  America,  II.-IV. ;  Wilson,  American  People,  I. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  AMERICA,  1607-1660 


The  unsuccessful  experience  of  forty  years  showed  that  no 
individual  was  powerful  enough  to  found  English  colonies  in 


^    „_._  London  Company '1606 

^ Plymouth  Company  1606 

_- Virginia  Charter  of  1609: 

Cod    V  Lines  probably  intended  by 

mnilth  "West  and  Northwest" 

J**:T    "'  i""u,,u  __  _  Later  Virginia  Claim  under 
£      *    V  0  Charter  of  1609 

"44-     4.t^++   New  England  Charter  1620 
SCALE  OF  MILES 


English  Territorial  Grants. 

America.      The   next   device 
was  a  system   of   colonizing 
companies,  chartered  by   27.  The  Vir- 
tue king  and  receiving  gfante 
from  him   large  grants  (1606) 
of    wild    lands,   which   were 
treated  as  his  personal  prop- 
erty.    The  first  grant  was  a 
royal  charter,  April  10,  1606,  which  created  two  such  corpora- 
tions to  settle  the  region  indefinitely  called  Virginia :    (1)  the 

45 


46 


COLONIAL  ENGLISHMEN 


Plymouth  Company,  to  make  a  settlement  somewhere  between 
the  38th  and  45th  degrees  of  north  latitude ;  (2)  the  London 
Company,  to  colonize  somewhere  between  the  34th  and  41st 
degrees.  For  the  government  of  either  settlement,  under  this 
charter,  it  was  provided  that  there  should  be  a  royal  council 
in  England  and  a  local  council  to  sit  in  the  colony. 

This  charter  at  once  involved  England  in  a  controversy  with 
Spain,  which  claimed  the  Atlantic  coast  indefinitely  north- 
ward, and  which,  with 
some  reason,  looked  upon 
the  scheme  as  an  attempt 
to  plant  a  naval  station 
for  the  vexation  of  Span- 
ish commerce.  The  Span- 
ish ambassador  at  London 
suggested  to  his   master, 

"  It  will  be  serving 
Brown,  ° 

Genesis  of      God  and  Your  Maj- 
'  esty  to  drive  these 

villains  out  from  there  and 
hang  them,"  but  sloth,  pov- 
erty, and  hesitation  to  re- 
new the  war  held  back  the 
Spaniards  from  anything 
stronger  than  protest. 

The     Plymouth     Com- 
pany sent    out   a   colony 

28.  Settle-      under   the    auspices 

Virginia        of   Chief-Justice  Popham  (May,  1607)  which  settled  on 

(1607-1681)  the  Kennebec  in  Maine ;  but  one  severe  winter  broke  it 
up,  and  the  company  never  sent  another.  The  London  Com- 
pany, in  which  Bartholomew  Gosnold  appears  as  an  active 
promoter,  in  December,  1606,  sent  120  emigrants,  who  arrived 
at  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  on  May  3,  1607,  selected  a  peninsula 


Captain  John  Smith  in  1624. 
From  title-page  of  his  Generatl  Historie. 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  AMERICA,   1607-1660 


47 


on  the  James  River  for  their  settlement,  which  they  called 
Jamestown.  It  was  low  and  marshy,  mosquito-cursed,  un- 
healthful,  and  hard  to  defend  from  the  Indians,  who  attacked 
it  within  two  weeks.  The  colonists  were  not  accustomed 
to  hard  labor,  and  for  some  years  they  had  to  be  supported 
from  England. 

The  most  picturesque  figure  in  these  early  days  is  Captain 
John  Smith,  who  wrote  two  accounts  of  the  colony :  the  True 
Relation  in  1608,  and 
the  Generall  Historie  in 
1624.  In  the  latter  he 
relates  what  was  en- 
tirely omitted  in  the 
earlier  story,  how  when 
he  was  a  prisoner  the 
Indians  were  about  to 
beat  out  his  brains ; 
how  Pocahontas  (then 
a  child  of  ten  or  twelve 
years),  daughter  of 
the  great  "  Weroance  " 
Powhatan,  sprang  be- 
tween him  and  the 
club  and  saved  his  life. 
Whether  this  story  be 
true  or  imagined,  the 
courage  and  spirit  of 
Smith  are  undeniable.  He  alternately  pacified  and  fought  the 
Indians ;  he  found  supplies,  explored  the  country,  and  was  the 
principal  man  in  the  little  government. 

The  beginnings  of  Virginia  are  a  terrible  tragedy  of  famine, 
desperation,  and  death;  of  630  early  colonists  570  died  in 
the  first  two  and  a  half  years.  Yet  its  founders  did  not  lose 
courage;, and  the  company  reorganized  in  1609,  and  secured  a 


Powhatan's  Lodge,  1607. 
From  Smith's  Generall  Historie,  1624. 


48  COLONIAL  ENGLISHMEN 

second  charter,  granting  a  distinct  territory,  two  hundred  miles 
each  way  along  the  coast  from  Old  Point  Comfort  and  "all 
that  Space  and  Circuit  of  Land,  lying  from  the  Sea  Coast  of 
the  Precinct  aforesaid,  up  into  the  Land  throughout  from  Sea 
to  Sea,  West  and  Northwest."  The  local  government,  how- 
ever, was  a  mere  tyranny  —  under  the  fierce  Governor  Dale 
the  colonists  were  little  better  than  slaves.  In  1612,  by  a  third 
and  last  charter,  the  company  was  reorganized  and  received 
larger  powers  of  control  of  its  own  affairs. 

The  turn  of  the  tide  came  in  1616,  when  Dale  departed  and 
when  the  company  began  to  assign  definite  tracts  of  land  to 
the  settlers,  in  strips  fronting  on  the  tide  rivers,  so  that  they 
had  water  communication  with  one  another  and  with  the  rest 
of  the  world.  Sassafras  was  a  valued  export;  and  in  1615 
began  the  export  of  tobacco,  then  sold  for  three  shillings  a 
pound. 

Yet  in  1619,  after  at  least  £100,000  had  been  spent,  there 
were  only  400  colonists  in  Virginia.  When  the  London  Com- 
29.  Vir-  pany  (then  often  called  the  Virginia  Company)  came 
foth^rown  under  tlie  control  of  liberal  and  public-spirited  men, 
(1619-1650)  headed  by  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  they  instructed  their  gov- 
ernor in  Virginia  to  summon  a  popular  assembly — the  first 
free  representative  government  upon  the  western  continent. 
Accordingly  twenty-two  "  burgesses,"  elected  from  the  various 
settlements  of  Virginia,  met  in  the  church  at  Jamestown  in 
July,  1619,  and  drew  up  numerous  laws  for  the  colony.  In 
1621,  by  the  so-called  "Sandys  constitution,"  this  assembly 
was  formally  recognized.  The  year  1619  also  marks  the  be- 
ginning of  colonial  slavery.  A  Dutch  man-of-war  in  Virginia 
exchanged  twenty  negro  slaves  for  provisions ;  and  thus  began 
a  new  source  of  labor  for  the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  which 
quickly  became  almost  the  sole  industry  of  Virginia. 

In  1623  the  Indians  rose  and  killed  nearly  350  settlers ;  and 
the  tragedy  gave  point  to  enemies  of  the  colony  in  England,  who 


THE  ENGLISH  LN  AMEKICA,    1607-1660  49 

assailed  it  as  a  swampy,  pestilential,  ill-housed,  and  dreary 
place,  where  "  tobacco  only  was  the  business,"  where  of  10,000 
colonists  only  2000  were  left  alive.  In  vain  did  the  company 
defend  its  management,  which  was  manfully  working  to  over- 
come the  disadvantages.  King  James  I.  disliked  the  company, 
and  in  1624,  by  the  judgment  of  the  Court  of  the  King's  Bench, 
the  Virginia  charters  were  held  null  and  void.  As  for  land 
titles,  all  grants  already  made  to  individuals  were  held  good ; 
and  the  right  to  make  new  grants  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
old  charter  practically  passed  to  the  royal  governor. 

Under  Charles  I.,  who  became  king  in  1625,  nominally  the 
only  government  left  to  Virginia  was  the  will  of  the  king; 
although  practically  the  administration  went  on  under  royal 
governors  much  as  before,  with  frequent  meetings  of  elected 
assemblies.      By  1650  Virginia  numbered  about  15,000  people. 

The  second  English  colony  in  America  was  made  by  exiles 
cast  off  by  their  own  country.     During  the  reign  of  Elizabeth 
there  grew  up  within  the  established  Church  of  England       30.  Puri- 
a  body  of  so-called  Puritans,  who  felt  that  the  Keforma-        p^whns 
tion  had  not  gone  far  enough;  and  out  of  the  Puritans  (1604-1620) 
arose  a  body  of  "  Separatists,"  later  called  Independents,  who 
would  not  remain  in  that  church.     Soon  after  James  I.  came 
to  the  throne  in  1603,  he  declared,  "  I  shall  make  them  con- 
forme  themselves,  or  I    will   harrie   them   out   of   the   land, 
or  else  do  worse."     Thereupon  many  Puritan  ministers  were 
deprived  of  their   right  to   hold   services ;    congregations  of 
Separatists  at  Scrooby  and  Austerfield  in  the  east  of  England 
were  broken  up;  and  by  1608  about  three  hundred  of  these 
people  took  refuge  in  Holland,  mostly  in  Leyden. 

A  God-fearing  and  industrious  folk,  the  exiles  (by  this  time 
often  called  Pilgrims)  found  themselves  strangers  in  Holland, 
and  feared  that  their  children  would  not  hold  to  their  faith. 
Under  the  advice  of  their  pastor,  Rev.  John  Robinson, 
about  two  hundred  of  the  Pilgrims  made  up  their  minds  to 


50 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


seek  a  place  of  settlement  in  America.  Their  friends  in  Eng- 
land lent  them  about  £5000,  and  they  got  from  the  London 
Company  a  patent  for  lands  to  be  located  somewhere  within 
the  general  bounds  of  the  second  charter  of  that  company. 


The  Ship  Mayflower. 
From  a  model  in  the  National  Museum,  Washington. 

The  transfer  to  the  new  world  was  long  and  tedious.     In 

July,  1620,  a  part  of  the  Leyden  congregation  set  sail  from 

81.  Settle-     Delf  shaven  to  Southampton;  and  of  these  about  a  hun- 

Pl^outh      dred  leffc  the  harbor  of  Plymouth  (September  6,  1620)  on 

(1620-1640)  the  ship  Mayflower,  bound  for  the  Hudson  River  country. 

After  three  months  of  stormy  voyage  they  found  themselves, 

perhaps  by  the  bad  faith  of  the  ship's  captain,  hundreds  of 

miles  east  of  their  desired  harbor,  just  off  Cape  Cod,  which 

was  part  of  the  territory  of  the  old  Plymouth  Company,  and 


THE   ENGLISH   IN   AMERICA,    1607-1660  51 

in  a  region  already  named  New  England.  Inasmuch  as  they 
had  no  patent  from  the  Plymouth  Company,  the  Pilgrims 
were  under  no  fixed  government ;  therefore,  on  board  the  May- 
flower (November  11, 1620),  they  drew  up  a  brief  "  combination," 
or  "compact,"  by  which  they  agreed  to  organize  as  a  "civil 
body  politic"  for  their  government  after  they  should  land; 
and  they  chose  John  Carver  to  be  governor. 

After  exploring  the  coast  the  Pilgrims  decided  to  settle  on 
the  bay  already  called  Plymouth  Harbor,  and  landed  December 
11,  1620  (December  21,  new  style),  near  a  great  bowlder       Bradford, 
now  called  Plymouth  Rock,  "among  diverse  cornfeilds,    Pla^Zn, 
&  litle  runing  brooks."      The   season  was  cruelly  hard,  m 

and  during  the  first  winter  half  the  number  died  from  cold, 
poor  food,  and  other  hardships.  Their  pluck  was  decisive; 
the  next  season  others  came  out,  and  thenceforward  the  little 
colony  prospered.  The  Indians  in  the  neighborhood  were 
few,  and  the  colony's  military  chieftain,  Miles  Standish, 
defended  it  well. 

Plymouth  remained  almost  an  independent  little  republic. 
The  people  secured  a  patent  for  their  land  in  1621,  and  in  twelve 
years  paid  their  debt  due  in  England,  out  of  their  fishery 
and  Indian  trading  business.  Under  the  prudent  administra- 
tion of  William  Bradford,  governor  for  thirty  years,  they  set 
up  the  first  town  meetings  in  America,  and  later  organized  a 
representative  assembly  (1639).  To  the  end  of  its  existence 
in  1691,  the  colony  never  had  a  charter  or  a  royal  governor. 
Yet  it  hardly  knew  internal  strife;  it  was  at  peace  with  its 
neighbors;  it  showed  that  Englishmen  could  prosper  in  the 
cold  climate  of  the  northeastern  coast;  it  established  in  the 
new  world  the  great  principle  of  a  church  free  from  govern- 
mental interference,  and  founded  on  the  will  of  the  members. 
Above  all,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  handed  down  to  later  gen- 
erations priceless  traditions  of  strength,  manliness,  patience, 
uprightness,  and  confidence  in  God. 


52 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


The  Plymouth  Company  of  1606  in  England  was  reorgan- 
ized in  1620  by  a  new  charter,  under  the  name  of  the  Council 
32.  Settle-     f°r  ^ew  England,  and  adopted  the  policy  of  dividing 

mentof         its  lands  (map,  p.  45)  among  its  own  members;    and 

Massachu-  .       . 

setts  under  some  of  these  grants  little  fishing  settlements  were 

(1620-1635)  ma(ie  at  Cape  Ann,  at  Naumkeag  (Salem),  at  Noddles 
Island  (East  Boston),  and  at  Shawm ut  (Boston). 

New  conditions  in  Eng- 
land now  led  to  a  third 
permanent  North  American 
colony.  The  new  king, 
Charles  I.,  plunged  into 
bitter  quarrels  with  the 
Puritans   and   with  Parlia- 


Early  New  England  Settlements. 
ment.     Some  merchants  and  country  gentlemen,  most  of  them 
Puritans  who  still  accepted  the  service  and  authority  of  the 
Church  of  England,  got  a  land  patent  from  the  New  England 


THE   ENGLISH  IN  AMERICA,   1007-1660  53 

Council.  Then  in  1629  they  secured  a  royal  charter  to  the 
"  Governor  and  Company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New 
England,"  covering  a  tract  bounded  on  the  north  by  a  line  three 
miles  north  of  the  Merrimac,  on  the  south  by  a  line  three  miles 
south  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  the  Charles  River,  and  reach- 
ing westward  to  the  South  Sea  (Pacific  Ocean). 

The  royal  charter  made  no  condition  that  the  company 
should  have  its  headquarters  in  England,  and  by  a  solemn 
"  Agreement"  made  at  Cambridge,  England  (August  26, 1629), 
fifteen  members  undertook  to  go  to  Massachusetts  —  or  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  as  the  "  plantation  "  (colony)  was  at  first  called. 
The  company  then  voted  "  to  transfer  the  government  of  the 
Plantation  to  those  that  shall  inhabit  it"  —  that  is,  they  carried 
the  parchment  charter  to  Massachusetts,  and  exercised  its 
privileges  thousands  of  miles  away  from  the  too  inquisitive 
English  government. 

In  1630  a  thousand  people  crossed  to  Massachusetts ;  among 
them  a  dozen  or  so  "  freemen,"  or  stockholders  of  the  company, 
who  set  the  government  of  the  colony  in  motion  by  electing 
John  Winthrop  governor.  The  colonial  government  thus 
formed  found  already  in  existence  the  little  towns  of  Roxbury, 
Dorchester,  Charlestown,  Boston,  and  Watertown,  each  of 
which  had  established  a  town  government  and  begun  to  legis- 
late for  itself.  These  little  undeveloped  republics  easily 
yielded  to  the  superior  authority  of  the  colony  in  general 
measures,  and  accepted  its  right  to  create  or  alter  forms  of 
town  government.  Although  the  royal  government  was  furi- 
ous at  the  transfer  of  the  charter,  the  colony  grew  rapidly, 
and  in  ten  years  increased  to  nearly  fifteen  thousand  people. 
In  1635  the  New  England  Council  of  1620  gave  up  its  charter, 
and  the  royal  government  made  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  cancel 
the  Massachusetts  charter  also. 

With  a  strong  backing  in  money,  colonists,  and  protection 
through  the  Parliamentary  leaders  in  England,  Massachusetts 


54  COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 

had  an  opportunity  to  work  out  several  important  experiments 
in  government. 

33  Ex_  (1)   The  colony  was  based  on  a  written  charter,  which 

ample  of        formed  a  constitution  suited  to  government  on  the  spot, 
Massachu- 
setts in  an(i  was  supplemented  by  a  little  code  of  laws  called  the 

government  «  Boo>y  of  Liberties,"  enacted  by  the  General  Court  in  1641. 

(2)  A  popular  government  was  built  up.  The  governor 
was  elected  every  year  by  the  freemen  of  the  company,  and 
so  were  the  assistants  (originally  a  board  of  directors  of  the 
company).  In  1634  the  towns  began  to  send  "committees," 
or  delegates,  to  the  General  Court  (originally  the  stockholders' 
meeting)  and  thus  established  a  representative  government,  in 
which  the  assistants  remained  as  an  upper  house.  In  practice 
this  was  not  a  very  democratic  system,  since  freemen  had  to 
be  church  members,  and  hardly  one  adult  male  immigrant  in 
eight  was  admitted  as  a  freeman. 

(3)  Government  and  religion  were  closely  united.  In  their 
political  thought  the  colonists  were  much  influenced  by  John 
Calvin,  the  great  Genevan  divine  and  statesman.  The  Puri- 
tans very  speedily  abandoned  the  prayer  book  and  the  episco- 
pal authority  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  set  up  independent 
churches  which  called  themselves  "Congregational";  and  the 
ministers,  who  were  supported  by  public  taxation,  had  remark- 
able influence  in  public  affairs.  One  of  them  said  that  the 
proper  government  is  that  "  in  which  men  of  God  are  consulted 
in  all  hard  cases  and  in  matters  of    religion." 

Massachusetts  developed  statesmen  of  whom  the  best  ex- 
ample was  John  Winthrop,  an  English  country  squire  by  birth, 

34  Win_  imbued  with  a  strong  sense  of  duty,  living  like  a  gentle- 
throp  and  man  in  a  good  house,  with  plenty  of  servants.  Winthrop 
nomians  g&ve  form  to  the  commonwealth,  regulated  legislation, 
(1636-1637)  an(j  stood  as  long  as  he  could  for  aristocratic  government; 

but  in  the  end  he  yielded  graciously  to  the  democracy.     He 
was  thirteen  times  elected  governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 


THE   ENGLISH   IN   AMERICA,    1607-1660 


55 


The  colony,  led  by  men  like  Winthrop,  sternly  repressed 
people  who  differed  from  the  established  religion,  or  too  much 
criticised  the  clergy.  In  1636  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson  of  Bos- 
ton, and  others,  who  were  called  "  Antinomians  "  (i.e.  people 
not  living  by  the  letter  of  the  law  of  God),  set  up  the  doctrine 
of  the  "covenant  of 
grace,"  or  special  pos- 
session of  the  inspiration 
of  God;  and  they  as- 
serted that  most  of  the 
Boston  ministers  were 
under  a  "covenant  of 
works,"  that  is,  were 
trying  to  be  saved  by 
religious  observances. 
Then  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
began  to  hold  women's 
meetings  to  discuss  and 
to  criticise  the  latest 
sermon  —  perhaps  the 
first  woman's  club  in 
America.  She  was  tried 
for     heresy,     dismissed 


John  Winthrop,  about  1628. 

Ascribed  to  Van  Dyck.    Dress  of  the 
Puritan  gentleman. 


from  the  church,  and  ordered  to  leave  the  colony  (1637). 
This  act  of  religious  intolerance  can  not  be  denied  or  de- 
fended, and  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the  gentler  spirit  of 
the  people  of  Plymouth. 

Hardly  had   Massachusetts  been  settled,  when  a  southern 
colony  was  chartered  under  Catholic  influence.     In  1632  King 
Charles  granted  to  George  Calvert,  Lord  Baltimore  (soon     35.  Settle- 
succeeded  by  his  son  Cecil,  the  second  Lord  Baltimore),  a      Ma^la  °d 
charter  for  a  colony  called  Maryland  after  Queen  Henrietta  (1632-1650) 
Maria.     It  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  "  40th  degree,"  on 
the  east  by  Delaware  Bay  and  the  ocean,  on  the  south  by  the 


56 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Original  Extent  of  Maryland. 
Dotted  lines  are  present  state  boundaries. 


Potomac,  and  on  the  west  by  a  meridian  line  drawn  through 
the  source  of  the  Potomac. 

This  charter  was  of  a  new  type,  for  both  the  land  and  the 
powers  of  government  were  transferred  to  Calvert  as  a  "pro- 
prietary "  :  he  had  author- 
ity to  make  laws  for  the 
colony,  provided  the  free- 
men of  the  colony  as- 
sented. Although  not 
distinctly  so  stated  in  the 
charter,  it  was  understood 
that  Catholics  would  be 
allowed  in  the  province; 
and  in  1634  a  body  of  col- 
onists, both  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  settled  first  at 
St.  Marys  and  then  else- 
where. The  Baltimore  family  was  rich  and  powerful,  and 
sent  out  many  emigrants  ;  the  soil  was  fertile,  tobacco  soon 
became  the  main  industry,  and  slaves  were  introduced. 

The  first  excitement  of  early  Maryland  history  was  a  contro- 
versy over  Kent  Island  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  with  William  Clay- 
bourne,  who  had  settled  it  under  a  grant  from  Virginia;  and  a 
little  civil  war  was  necessary  to  displace  him.  In  an  early 
contest  with  the  proprietor  the  assembly  successfully  asserted 
its  right  to  initiate  laws.  The  most  significant  statute  was 
the  Toleration  Act  of  1649,  which  distinctly  declared  that 
"no  person  .  .  .  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  shall 
from  henceforth  be  anywaies  molested,  or  discountenanced  .  .  . 
for  his  religion  nor  in  the  free  exercise  thereof."  Under  this 
act,  though  Catholics  could  not  be  persecuted  for  their  faith, 
it  was  impossible  for  them  to  keep  out  Protestants,  who  out- 
numbered the  Catholics ;  and  the  colony  speedily  became  dis- 
tinctly Protestant  in  feeling. 


THE   ENGLISH   IN  AMERICA,    1007-1660  57 

The  next  impulse   of  colonization  was  on  the  Connecticut 
River,   where   several   currents   of    settlement   ran   together. 

(1)  The  Dutch  built  a  fort,  called  "  Good  Hope,"  on  the      36  fMQ^ 
Connecticut  in  1623,  and  continued  to  hold  it  thirty  years.  ment  of 

(2)  The  Plymouth  people  established  a  post  at  Windsor     on™j  J£ew 

in  1633.     (3)  In  1631   the   Council   for  New  England  Haven 

v  '  (1623-1643) 

granted  to  Lord  Say  and  Seal  and  others   a  tract  on 

Long  Island  Sound,  under  which  a  settlement  was  made  at  Say- 
brook  in  1635.  (4)  The  principal  settlements  were  made  by 
some  of  the  people  of  Roxbury  and  Newtown,  now  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  headed  by  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker.  In  1635  and 
1636  they  made  their  way  across  country  and  founded  on  the 
Connecticut  River  the  towns  of  Hartford  (alongside  the  Dutch 
fort),  Windsor  (unceremoniously  annexed  from  Plymouth),  and 
Wethersfield.  Soon  they  cut  loose  from  Massachusetts;  and 
in  January,  1639,  feeling  the  need  of  a<  common  government, 
representatives  of  these  three  little  towns  met  at  Hartford 
and  drew  up  the  "Fundamental  Orders  of  Connecticut,"  the 
first  detailed  constitution  made  by  a  self-governing  American 
community  for  itself. 

Meantime  the  colony  of  New  Haven  was  forming  in  like 
manner  out  of  separate  communities :  Southold  and  other  towns 
on  Long  Island ;  Milford,  Guilford,  and  Stamford ;  and  espe- 
cially the  town  of  New  Haven,  founded  in  1638,  by  Theophilus 
Eaton  and  Rev.  John  Davenport.  In  1643  these  little  towns 
united  in  a  common  colonial  assembly. 

The  settlement  of  the  Connecticut  valley  was  interrupted 
by  an  Indian  war  in  1637.  The  Pequots,  a  large  and  warlike 
tribe,  grew  threatening  as  they  saw  their  hunting  grounds  in- 
vaded by  the  English.  Captain  John  Mason,  of  Connecticut, 
with  90  armed  white  men  and  400  Narragansetts,  attacked  the 
Pequots  not  far  from  the  present  Stonington,  Connecticut; 
and  stormed  their  fort.  As  the  chronicler  puts  it,  u  Downe  Contempo- 
fell  men,  women,  and  children,  those  that  scaped  us,  fell  rarie8>  *« 444 


58 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


into  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  that  were  in  the  reere  of  us 
.  .  .  not  above  five  of  them  escaped  out  of  our  hands."  This 
cruel  and  merciless  massacre  terrified  the  remnants  of  the  tribe, 
and  gave  peace  for  nearly  forty  years. 


New  England^ 


Pequot  Fort,  destroyed  in  1637. 
Contemporary  plan  of  the  attack  by  whites  and  Indians. 

Just  outside  the  charter  limits  of  Massachusetts   another 

new  colony  was  founded  in  1636.      The  leading  spirit  was 

37  Settle-     R°ger   Williams,  a   graduate  of   Oxford,  who   for   two 

ment  of         years  was  minister  at  Plymouth,  and   then  became   a 

Sand  minister   at    Salem.     Williams   laid   down   what   seems 

(1636-1650)   now  the  obvious  doctrine  that  the  civil  government  has 

nothing  to  do  with  religious  acts,  and  that  every  one  should 

have  liberty  to  worship  God  in  the  light  of  his  own  conscience. 

For  his  denial  of  the  right  of  any  government  to  prescribe 

religious  beliefs  for  its  citizens,  Williams  was  banished  from 


THE   ENGLISH   IN  AMERICA,    1607-1660  59 

Massachusetts  (January,  1636).  He  betook  himself  to  what 
was  then  the  wilderness  of  Narragansett  Bay,  where  he 
secured  a  tract  of  land  from  the  Indians,  by  friendly  agree- 
ment, and  founded  the  town  of  Providence.  Two  years  later 
he  alarmed  and  grieved  his  neighbors  in  Massachusetts  by 
formally  going  over  to  the  Baptist  Church,  which  was  bitterly 
persecuted  both  in  England  and  in  the  colonies. 

Around  Narragansett  Bay  other  exiles  from  Massachusetts 
made  little  settlements  in  1638 :  the  town  of  Warwick  on  the 
mainland,  Portsmouth  (founded  by  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson) 
and  Newport  on  the  island  of  Rhode  Island.  In  1644  the 
Earl  of  Warwick,  in  behalf  of  Parliament,  gave  a  patent 
to  the  "  Providence  Plantations  in  the  Narragansett  Bay  in 
New  England,"  under  which,  in  1647,  were  loosely  united 
under  one  government  the  four  little  settlements  of  Provi- 
dence, Newport,  Portsmouth,  and  Warwiqk.  The  little  group 
of  settlements  attracted  immigrants  by  its  favorable  situation ; 
it  even  tolerated  the  Church  of  England ;  it  had  a  prosperous 
commerce,  a  tumultuous  assembly,  elected  its  own  governor, 
and  was  heartily  disliked  by  its  neighbors. 

The  settlements  north  of  Massachusetts  were  obstructed  by 
rival   French   claims,  and   hampered   by  a  succession  of  con- 
fused and  conflicting  grants  made  by  the  Plymouth  Com-        38.  New 
pany  and  its  successor  the  Council  for   New  England.     Hampshire 
John    Wheelwright,    a    Boston    minister,    adopted    the  (1620-1650) 
"  Antinomian  "  doctrines,  and  was  disfranchised  and  banished  ; 
a  little  company  of  Massachusetts  people,  who  had  already  set- 
tled north  of  the  Merrimac  at  Exeter  without  a  grant,  begged  him 
to  come  and  be  their  minister  (1638).     Other  little  towns  were 
speedily  settled  in  what  is  now  New  Hampshire,  and  formed  a 
sort  of  confederation,  not  unlike  the  governments  of  Rhode 
Island  and  New  Haven.     Massachusetts  claimed  the  territory; 
and  within  five  years  the  people  accepted  her  jurisdiction,  and 
remained  a  part  of  that  colony  most  of  the  time  to  1691. 
hakt's  amer.  hist.  —  4 


60  COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 

One  of  the  members  of  the  Plymouth  Company,  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  made  several  efforts  to  build  up  a  colony  in  Maine,  and 
in  1631  founded  the  "City  of  Agamenticus"  (York);  but 
Massachusetts  annexed  this  and  other  little  settlements  on 
the  northern  coast  in  1652. 

Immigration  into  the  colonies  and  especially  into  New  Eng- 
land was  suddenly  checked  by  alarming  difficulties  in  England. 
After  fifteen  years  of  struggle  with  the  king,  the  Puritans 
nial  gov-  and  Separatists  at  last  got  the  upper  hand  in  the  "  Long 
under  Par  Parliament,"  which  met  in  1640.  In  1642  a  civil  war 
liament  broke  out,  the  result  of  which  was  that,  in  1649,  the  army 

under  Oliver  Cromwell  became  the  virtual  government 
of  England,  and  Charles  I.  was  executed.  The  Independents 
(substantially  the  same  as  the  New  England  Congregation- 
alists  or  Separatists)  now  became  the  controlling  power;  and 
the  army,  which  was  strongly  Independent,  supported  Cromwell 
as  "Lord  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland  "  from  1653  to  his  death  in  1658. 

The  colonists  were  left  mostly  to  themselves  during  the 
early  part  of  this  period  of  confusion.  Cromwell,  however,  de- 
veloped a  strong  and  consistent  colonial  policy.  (1)  In  1651 
he  secured  the  first  navigation  act  for  protecting  English  colo- 
nial trade  by  excluding  foreign  shipping  —  a  measure  directed 
against  the  Dutch.  (2)  He  sent  out  a  fleet  in  1652,  which 
compelled  Maryland  and  Virginia  to  submit  to  the  authority 
of  Parliament.  Hostilities  broke  out  in  Maryland  between 
the  Puritans  and  the  Catholics,  but  the  Puritans  triumphed. 
(3)  Cromwell  attacked  the  colonies  of  Holland  and  Spain,  com- 
pelling the  Dutch  at  last  to  withdraw  from  Hartford,  and 
thereby  practically  to  give  up  all  claims  to  the  Connecticut 
valley;  and  in  1655  Jamaica  was  taken  from  Spain  and 
added  to  the  previous  group  of  English  West  India  islands. 

The  pressure  of  the  Indians  and  the  Dutch,  and  the  confu- 
sion in  England,  led  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  Connecticut, 


THE   ENGLISH   IN   AMERICA,    1607-1660  61 

and  New  Haven,  in  1643,  to  unite  in  a  colonial  union  called 

the  United  Colonies  of  New  England  — the  first  of  its  kind 

and  the  prototype  of  our  present  federal  union.     The        40  New 

"  Articles   of    Confederation,"   under   which   the   union        England 

,.     .  .  ..  Confedera- 

was  formed,  was  a  little  constitution,  creating  a  govern-  tion  (1643_ 

ment  of  two  commissioners  from  each  colony,  "  being  all  1655) 

in  Church  fellowship  with  us,"  and  any  six  of  the  eight  agree- 
ing could  bind  all  the  colonies,  although  Massachusetts  had 
more  people  than  the  other  three  colonies  together.  The 
Articles  provided  for  common  meetings  and  for  common  action 
"  in  generall  cases  of  a  civill  nature " ;  and  provided  for  the 
return  of  fugitives,  servants,  and  prisoners. 

This  confederation  stood  for  more  than  forty  years,  and  by 
its  united  front  rendered  large  service  to  the  colonies  ;  it  con- 
cerned itself  with  the  general  improvement  of  the  people ;  it 
made  boundary  settlements  with  the  Dutch;  it  repeatedly 
checked  the  Narragansett  Indians ;  it  even  corresponded  with 
the  French  governor  of  Acadia.  Once  Massachusetts  flatly 
denied  the  right  of  the  six  commissioners  from  the  other 
colonies  to  control  it  (1653),  and  threatened  secession;  but 
peace  and  concord  were  restored. 

Among  the  new  sects  which  sprang  up  in  England  was  that 
of  the  Friends  (commonly  called  Quakers),  founded  in  1648 
by  George  Fox  as  a  protest  against  all  religious  forms,  41.  The 

ceremonies,  and  government.      Though  a  quiet  folk  of  episode 

singularly  blameless  lives,  they  were  harassed  and  often  (1648-1660) 
imprisoned  in  England.  They  soon  began  to  appear  in  the 
colonies.  When  two  modest  and  God-fearing  Quaker  women 
reached  Boston,  their  doctrines  were  officially  declared  to  be 
"heretical,  blasphemous,  and  devilish,"  their  books  were 
burned,  and  they  were  shipped  out  of  the  colony  (1656). 

Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Plymouth,  as  well  as  Mary- 
land and  Virginia,  hastened  to  pass  laws  for  the  severe  punish- 
ment of  Quakers  and  "  ranters,"  and  prohibiting  the  circulation 


62  COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 

of  their  books;  but  mild  punishments  did  not  keep  them 
out,  nor  even  condemnations  to  be  sold  as  slaves.  In  1660 
four  of  them  were  executed  in  Boston;  and  this  rigor  so 
shocked  the  sense  of  the  community  that  a  new  law  was 
passed  abolishing  the  death  penalty  against  the  Quakers,  but 
still  banishing  them.  The  Quaker  episode  is  a  proof  that  the 
good  and  pure  principles  of  the  Puritans  did  not  keep  the 
community  from  tyranny  and  stupid  cruelty.  The  Quakers 
neither  harmed  nor  seriously  threatened  the  good  order  of 
the  colonists;  they  were  persecuted  because  they  ventured 
to  differ  from  the  usual  religious  and   political  practices. 


The  English  settlements  in  America  in  the  first  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century  are  the  foundation  of  the  present  United 
42  Sum-        States,  and  were  made  under  circumstances  favorable  to 
mary  high  civic  spirit.     By  the  theory  of  English  law  the  lands 

in  America  were  the  personal  possessions  of  the  crown,  to  be 
granted  and  to  be  governed  according  to  the  king's  will ;  and 
both  James  I.  and  Charles  I.  had  no  larger  thought  than  to 
please  their  favorites  with  immense  grants  of  territory ;  and 
they  put  out  of  their  own  hands  all  direct  colonial  government, 
except  in  Virginia  after  1624. 

The  original  plan  was  to  colonize  through  great  companies, 
which  were  to  find  their  profit  in  disposing  of  the  lands  and  in 
trade ;  but  the  early  corporations  broke  down.  The  London 
Company's  Virginia  charters  were  annulled  in  1624.  The 
Plymouth  Company  in  its  two  forms  of  1606  and  1620  practi- 
cally did  nothing  but  make  land  grants.  The  Massachusetts 
charter  of  1629,  however,  was  transferred  to  the  actual  settlers, 
and  became  the  constitution  of  a  nearly  independent  common- 
wealth. Tn  Maryland  there  was  a  new  form  of  proprietary 
colonial  grant  in  1632 ;  but  the  people  obtained  a  share  in  their 
own  government.  In  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Plymouth, 
Ehode   Island,  Connecticut,  and  New  Haven,  colonies   were 


THE    ENGLISH   IN   AMERICA,    1007-1660 


68 


founded    without   royal   charters,   and    almost   without    royal 
control. 

The  great  lesson  of  this  early  English  colonization  is  that 
men  of  the  English  race  were  able  to  adapt  themselves  to  new 
and  unforeseen  conditions.  The  colonists  made  local  govern- 
ments for  themselves,  founded  representative  colonial  govern- 
ments, and  even  set  up  a  remarkable  federation,  during  the 
confusion  caused  by  the  civil  war  in  England. 


TOPICS 

(1)  Compile  a  list  of  American  colonizing  companies  chartered  by  Suggestive 
the  crown.  (2)  Why  did  the  Popham  colony  fail  ?  (3)  Give  a  topics 
description  of  the  weroance  Powhatan.  (4)  Did  the  Indians  check 
the  growth  of  Virginia  ?  (5)  Was  the  court  justified  in  annulling 
the  charters  of  Virginia  in  1024  ?  (6)  What  were  the  religious 
principles  of  the  Independents  ?  (7)  Why  did  Charles  I.  so  readily 
grant  a  charter  for  Massachusetts  Bay  ?  (8)  Why  were  the 
Plymouth  Company  and  the  Council  for  New  England  failures? 
(9)  Were  the  ministers  wise  guides  in  Massachusetts  ?  (10)  Was 
Roger  Williams  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  Massachusetts  ?  (11)  Why 
did  not  Spain  uproot  the  colony  of  Virginia?  (12)  What  did 
"West  and  Northwest"  mean  in  the  Virginia  charter  of  1609? 
(13)  Tobacco  culture.  (14)  Doctrines  of  the  Quakers  offensive  to 
the  Puritans. 

(15)  Life  in  Jamestown.    (10)  Did  Pocahontas  save  John  Smith's    Search 
life  ?     (17)  The  first  Virginia  assembly.     (18)  The  voyage  of  the    topics 
Mayflower.     (19)  The   Pilgrims  and  the  Indians.     (20)  Trial  of 
Anne  Hutchinson.     (21)  Banishment  of  Rev.  John  Wheelwright. 

(22)  The  interest  of  the  New  England  Confederation  in  education. 

(23)  Was  Claybourne  entitled  to  Kent  Island  ?  (24)  Cromwell's 
interest  in  the  American  colonies.  (25)  Precise  date  of  the  landing 
of  the  Pilgrims. 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  45,  52,  50  ;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  19-35  ;  Geography 
Tyler,  England  in  America ;  Epoch  Maps,  no.  3. 

Thwaites,  Colonies,  §§  28-34,  48-68  ;  Fisher,  Colonial  Era,  30-  Secondary 
49,  02-71,  82-140,  177-187  ;  Lodge,  English  Colonies,  chs.  i.  iii.  authorities 
xviii.-xxi.  passim;  Tyler,  England  in  America;   Fiske,  Old  Vir- 


64 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


ginia,  I.  41-318, — Beginnings  of  New  England,  50-108;  Doyle, 
English  in  America,  I.  101-229,  275-313,  II.  11-319,  III.  98-114  ; 
Wilson,  American  People,  I.  34-68,  74-218  ;  Gay,  Bryant's  His- 
tory, I.  202-338,  370-428,476-558,  II.  1-114,  165-228,373-379; 
Adams,  Three  Episodes ;  Eggleston,  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  25- 
349  ;  Bruce,  Virginia,  I.  1-188  ;  Weeden,  New  England,  I.  23-46  ; 
Mereness,  Maryland ;  Warner,  Captain  John  Smith ;  Browne, 
George  Calvert  and  Cecilius  Calvert ;  Twichell,  John  Winthrop  ; 
Walker,  Thomas  Hooker ;  Straus,  Boger  Williams. 

Sources  Hart,   Source  Book,  §§  5,  8,   10,   13-21,  —  Contemporaries,  I. 

§§  49-142  passim,  —  Source  Beaders,  I.  §§  10-12,  20,  34-36,  45-48, 
57-60;  MacDonald,  Select  Charters,  nos.  1-21  ;  American  History 
Leaflets,  nos.  7,  16,  25,  27,  29,  31  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  7,  8, 
48-51,  53-55,  6Q,  77,  87,  93,  121  ;  Caldwell,  Survey,  13,  29-32  ; 
Arber,  Pilgrim  Fathers;  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation;  Win- 
throp, New  England.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus, 
297-305,  —  Historical  Sources,  §§  69-71. 

Longfellow,  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish, — John  Endicott ; 
Whittier,  John  Underhill,  —  The  Exiles,  — Banished  from  Massa- 
chusetts,—  King's  Missive  ;  Mary  Johnston,  To  Have  and  to  Hold 
(Va.)  ;  J.  E.  Cooke,  My  Lady  Pokahontas,  —  Stories  of  the  Old 
Dominion,  1-64 ;  J.  G.  Austin,  Standish  of  Standish,  —  Betty 
Alden  (Plymouth)  ;  L.  M.  Child,  Hobomok  (Plymouth)  ;  Motley, 
Merry  Mount ;  Hawthorne,  Maypole  of  Merry  Mount,  — Endicott 
and  the  Bed  Cross, —  The  Gentle  Boy  (Quakers), —  Grandfather's 
Chair,  pt.  i.  chs.  i.-vii.  ;  F.  J.  Stimson,  King  Noanett  (Mass.  and 
Va.)  ;  J.  G.  Holland,  Bay  Path  (Connecticut  valley)  ;  B.  M.  Dix, 
Making  of  Christopher  Ferringham  (Quaker)  ;  L.  M.  Thurston, 
Mistress  Brent  (Md.)  ;  M.  W.  Goodwin,  Sir  Christopher  (Md.). 

Pictures  Winsor,  America,  III. ;  Wilson,  American  People,  I. 


Illustrative 
works 


CHAPTER   IV. 


RIVALS   OF   ENGLAND,  AND   THE  GREAT   WEST    (1603-1689) 

Side  by  side  with  the  English  colonies   grew  up  French 
settlements  on  the  north,  and  Dutch  posts  in  the  center,  which 


New  France  and  New  Netherland. 
contested  with  the  English  the  control  of  the  seaboard  and 
the  best  routes  into  the  interior.     Under  their  brilliant    4«   French 
king    Henry    IV.    the    French   revived   their   American    settlements 
claims  (§  21),  and  in  1603  lie  issued  a  royal  patent,  with  a 
monopoly  of  the  fur  trade,  to  the  Sieur  de  Monts  for  the  territory 

65 


(1603-1632) 


66 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


between  the  40th  and  46th  degrees  of  latitude,  under  the  name 
of  Acadie. 

De  Monts  made  temporary  settlements  at  the  island  of 
St.  Croix,  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay  (1604),  and  at  Port  lloyal, 
later  Annapolis ;  his  agent  Samuel  de  Champlain  established 
the  first  permanent  French  settlement  in  North  America  at 
Quebec  (1608).  Champlain  was  the  most  brilliant  and  most 
successful  of  French  explorers  and  colonists.     Soon  after  his 

arrival  he  and  a 
body  of  Algon- 
quin Indians  went 
to  the  lake  now 
called  by  his 
name,  where  they 
fell  in  with  a 
party  of  fierce  and 
hostile  Iroquois. 
Cham  plain's  fire- 
arms quickly  dis- 
persed the  stran- 
gers in  a  panic,  and  he  thus  laid  the  foundations  of  hatred  and 
dreadful  warfare  between  the  French  and  the  Five  Nations. 
In  1611  he  founded  Montreal,  and  a  few  years  later  was  the  first 
European  to  reach  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron  and  Lake  Ontario. 
A  settlement  made  by  Jesuits  on  the  island  of  Mount  Desert 
in  1613  was  forthwith  the  scene  of  the  first  armed  conflict  be- 
tween the  French  and  the  English  on  American  soil,  for  Cap- 
tain Argall  of  Virginia  descended  upon  it  and  carried  away  the 
settlers.  A  few  years  later  England  went  so  far,  during  a  war 
between  England  and  France,  as  to  capture  Port  Royal  and 
Quebec.  Nevertheless,  in  1632,  by  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain, 
the  first  European  agreement  as  to  American  boundaries,  the 
English  formally  acknowledged  the  rightful  title  of  France  to 
"New  France,  Acadia  (Acadie),  and  Canada"  (that  is,  to  the 


Champlain  defeating  the  Iroquois,  1009. 
From  Champlain' s  Voijages,  1613. 


RIVALS   OF   ENGLAND 


67 


present  Nova  Scotia  and  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  valley,  with 
the  country  between) ;  in  return  they  were  to  be  undisturbed 
in  their  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  settlements. 

Another  competitor  for  the  best  part  of  North  America 
appeared  on  the  middle  Atlantic  coast.  The  Dutch  republic 
had  now  become  one  of  the  principal  naval  and  commer-      44   Dutch 

cial  powers  of  Europe ;  and  a  truce  with  Spain  (1609)    settlements 
*  ..      I  tj  xt   /    (1609-1630) 

gave  it  an  opportunity  for  new  expansion.     Henry  Hud- 
son, an  Englishman  in  the  Dutch  service,  in  1609  rediscovered 
New  York  Harbor,  followed  the  East  River  to  the  entrance  of 
Long  Island  Sound,  and  explored  the  Hudson  River,  thus  giv- 
ing to  the  Dutch  a  presumptive  right  to  the  neighboring  region. 

Accordingly  the  United  New  Netherland  Company  of  traders 
built  the  trading  post  of  New  Amsterdam  on  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  New  York  in  1614.  Seven  years  later  the 
Dutch  government  granted  the  monopoly  of  Dutch  trade  in 
America  to  the  new  Dutch  .West  India  Company,  which  in 
1623  sent  out  thirty  families,  part  of  whom  settled  .Fort  Orange 
(Albany). 

The  first  permanent  town  on  Manhattan  Island  was  Fort 
Amsterdam,  enlarged  from  the  earlier  post  by  Governor  Peter 


New  Amsterdam,  1G56.     (From  a  drawing  by  H.  Block.) 

Minnit  in  1626.  The  Dutch  laid  a  broad  foundation  for  their 
new  colony  of  New  Netherland  by  planting  little  trading  posts 
on  the  Connecticut,  on  Long  Island,  up  the  "North  River " 
(Hudson),  and  on  the  "South  River"  (Delaware).     A  change 


68  COLONIAL  ENGLISHMEN 

in  the  Dutch  policy  came  in  1629,  when,  by  a  Charter  of 
Privileges,  great  land  grants  were  assigned  to  Dutch  "pa- 
troons,"  gentlemen  who  brought  out  their  own  settlers,  and 
established  a  kind  of  feudal  system.  Other  people  came  in, 
and  before  long  eighteen  languages  were  spoken  in  the  little 
town,  again  called  New  Amsterdam. 

Meantime  a  rival  power  had  acquired  the  Delaware  region. 
In  1638  a  Swedish  royal  colony  of  Swedes  and  Finns  settled 

45.  The  on  the  lower  Delaware,  near  Fort  Christina  (Wilmington). 

Dutch  and      rj,^e  colony  was  not  well  supported  by  the  home  country, 

LI16    OW6Q.6S 

(1638-1655)  and  in  1655  it  was  seized  by  the  Dutch  Governor  Stuy- 
vesant.  While  this  struggle  was  going  on,  in  the  general  Eu- 
ropean peace  of  Westphalia  (1648)  Spain  had  at  last  admitted 
the  independence  of  the  Dutch,  including  their  American  colo- 
nies of  Guiana  and  New  Netherland. 

English,  French,  and  Dutch  alike1  speedily  learned  that  the 
way  from  the  coast  to  the  interior  with  its  valuable  furs  was 
held  by  the  powerful  confederacy  of  the  Five  Nations  of 
Five  Iroquois  —  the  Mohawks,  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  Oneidas, 

Nations  an(j  genecas#  Their  territory  stretched  along  central 
New  York  in  a  succession  of  towns  made  up  of  log  cabins 
called  "  long  houses."  Though  they  never  numbered  more  than 
ten  thousand  people,  of  whom  two  thousand  or  three  thousand 
were  warriors,  their  war  parties  were  a  terror  as  far  east  as 
Boston,  as  far  south  as  Virginia,  and  as  far  west  as  Illinois. 
Constantly  reduced  by  desperate  fighting  and  disease,  they  kept 
up  their  numbers  by  adopting  prisoners.  Their  internal  or- 
ganization was  weak,  for  there  was  only  a  loose  confederation 
between  the  tribes;  if  the  young  men  wanted  to  go  to  war, 
they  made  up  a  party,  including  members  of  one  or  all  the 
tribes,  and  went  their  way. 

The  worst  enemies  of  the  Iroquois  were  their  own  fierce- 
ness, disease,  and  the  white  man's  rum.  They  suffered  fear- 
fnlly  from  smallpox,  which  ran  its  course  till  often  whole 


RIVALS   OF   ENGLAND  69 

villages  were  depopulated.     As  to  the  effects  of  liquor,  an  eye- 
witness  says:    "They  were   all   lustily    drunk,    raving,      Contempo- 
striking,    shouting,   jumping,   fighting    each    other,    and   rariea,  1.589 
foaming  at  the  mouth  like  raging  wild  beasts.     And  this  was 
caused  by  Christians  ! " 

While  the  Dutch  were  pushing  into  the  central  coast,  the 
French  were  steadily  developing  the  St.  Lawrence  basin,  but 
they  avoided  Lake  Erie,  which  was  flanked  by  the  Five       47.  0pen- 

Nations.     In  1634  Jean  Nicolet  followed  up  the  Ottawa      ingof  the 

St.  Law- 
River,    crossed  to    Georgian  Bay,   and  passed  through    renCe  basin 
upper  Lake  Huron   to    the   Sault   Ste.    Marie   and  the  (1634-1669) 
Strait  of  Mackinac ;  he  was  the  first  European  on  Lake  Michi- 
gan.    The  Catholic  missionaries  speedily  followed,  and  outran 
the  traders  in  zeal  and  courage.     The  Iroquois  followed  their 
French  enemies  northward,  exterminated  the  Hurons  because 
they  were  friendly  to  the  French,  and  martyred  the  mission- 
aries (1649)..   In  1665  Lake  Superior  was  discovered  by  the 
missionary  Father  Allouez,  and  before  long  French  traders 
discovered  an  overland  route  from  Lake  Superior  to  Hudson 
Bay.     Missions  were  soon  after  established  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
at  Mackinac,  and  at  St.  Xavier,  on  Green  Bay. 

Meanwhile   the    Jesuit   missionaries   were   making   heroic, 
though  on  the  whole  unavailing,  efforts  to  Christianize  the 
Iroquois.    Father  Isaac  Jogues's  account  of  his  experience      Contempo- 
as  a  prisoner  gives  a  frightful  picture  of  his  captors,  who      Far'kman 
seemed  to  him  like  demons ;  they  leaped  upon  him  like  Jesuits 

wild  beasts,  tore  out  his  nails,  and  crunched  his  fingers  with 
their  teeth ;  his  attendant  Hurons  were  tortured  on  a  scaf- 
fold in  the  midst  of  the  Iroquois  village ;  yet  the  heroic  priest 
"began  to  instruct  them  separately  on  the  articles  of  the  faith, 
then  on  the  very  stage  itself  baptized  two  with  raindrops  gathered 
from  the  leaves  of  a  stalk  of  Indian  corn."  Rescued  by  the 
Dutch,  this  brave  and  self-sacrificing  man  returned  and  plunged 
a  second  time  into  that  misery,  and  died  a  martyr's  death. 


4    La  Salle 


RIVALS   OF   ENGLAND  71 

On  the  upper  lakes  the  French  heard  vaguely  of  a  great 

south-flowing  .  river,   the    "  Missipi ;'   or    "Mich    sipi,"    "Big 

Water,"  which  they  supposed  to  flow  into  the  Gulf  of    48  Discov.. 

California.      The  first  man  to  form  an  intelligent  plan       eryofthe 

upper  Mis- 
of  reaching  the  great  river  was  Robert  Cavalier,  com-         sissippi 

monly  called  La  Salle,  a  French  nobleman  who,  in  1669,   (1669-1680) 

went  west  as  far  as  Lake  Erie,  which  had  just  been  traversed 

for  the  first  time  by  a  white  man,  the  trapper  Joliet.     La  Salle 

then  disappeared  southward,   and  reached  a  large  river,  the 

Wabash,  or  perhaps  the  Ohio  (1670)  ;  but  returned  to  Montreal, 

unable  to  push  farther  west  by  that  route. 

Before  La  Salle  could  gather  his  resources  to  start  again, 
the  Mississippi  had  been  reached,  under  the  direction  of  Fronte- 
nac,  the  new  governor  of  Canada.  In  1673  the  missionary 
Father  Marquette,  accompanied  by  Joliet,  passed  through 
Green  Bay,  up  the  Fox  River,  across  the  easy  portage  of  two 
miles,  and  down  the  Wisconsin,  till  (June  17)  they  entered  a 
mighty  stream,  which  Marquette  called  the  River  Immaculate 
Conception.  They  found  very  deep  water,  saw  prairies  extend- 
ing east  and  west,  and  discovered  quantities  of  fish,  turkeys, 
and  buffalo.  League  after  league  they  floated  down  the  river, 
hoping  to  reach  its  mouth  ;  they  passed  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri,  so  muddy  that  they  would  not  drink  it.  By  the 
time  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  they  felt  sure 
that  they  were  near  Spanish  and  hostile  territory ;  and  there- 
fore turned  back,  and  paddled  up  the  Illinois  River,  which  they 
called  the  Divine,  and  crossed  over  the  site  now  occupied  by 
Chicago  to  Lake  Michigan. 

Meanwhile  La  Salle  was  made  commander  of  Fort  Frontenac 
on  Lake  Ontario,  and  he  brooded  over  the  possibilities  of  es- 
tablishing a  trade  route  to  the  valley  of  the  river  found  by  Mar- 
quette. In  1678  Louis  XIV.  gave  him  a  grant,  authorizing  him 
to  make  discoveries  and  to  build  forts,  and  a  year  later  he 
built  the  Griffon,  the  first  European  vessel  on  Lake  Erie,  and 


72  COLONIAL  ENGLISHMEN 

navigated  her  through  the  chain  of  Great  Lakes  to  Green  Bay  ; 
and  thence  in  boats  reached  the  river  St.  Joseph,  near  the  head 
of  Lake  Michigan,  where  he  built  Fort  Miamis.  Crossing  the 
portage  to  the  Kankakee  River,  he  made  his  way  down  the  Illi- 
nois to  a  point  near  the  present  Peoria,  where  he  built  another 
fort,  Crevecoeur,  as  a  basis  for  further  advance.  A  missionary 
friar,  Father  Hennepin,  came  out  with  La  Salle  and  in  1680  was 
sent  by  him  down  the  Illinois  and  thence  up  the  Mississippi ; 
he  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Sioux  Indians,  and  carried  to  the 
falls,  which  Hennepin  named  St.  Anthony,  at  the  site  of  Min- 
neapolis. 

Again  La  Salle  was  obliged  to  return  to  Montreal  to  recruit 
his  forces.     When  he  went  west  a  third  time,  in  December, 
49.  Discov-    1680,  he  found  that  his  Fort  Crevecoeur  had  been  de- 
ery  of  the       stroyed  by  Iroquois  and  its  garrison  under  Tonty  had  dis- 
sissippi         appeared.     After  a  hasty  trip  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois 
(1680-1687)  }ie  returned  eastward,  and  then  began  his  final  and  suc- 
cessful journey  in  1681.     His  party  crossed  the  divide  of  the 
Chicago  River,  and  floated  down  the  Illinois,  reaching  the  Mis- 
sissippi February  6,  1682.      Then  he  floated  down  the  same 
stretch  that  Marquette  had  traversed.     Soon  after  passing  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio  he  took  possession  of  the  country  with  great 
ceremony,  and  set  up  the  king's  arms.     A  few  days  later,  at 
the  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  he  founded  Fort  Prudhomme. 

After  a  few  weeks  he  passed  Marquette's  farthest  point. 
April  6,  1682,  he  arrived  at  a  point  where  the  river  divides 
into  three  channels.  As  one  of  the  party  wrote  :  "  The  water 
is  brackish ;  after  advancing  two  leagues  it  became  perfectly 
salt,  and  advancing  on,  we  discovered  the  open  sea,  so  that  .  . 
the  sieur  de  la  Salle,  in  the  name  of  his  majesty,  took  posses- 
sion of  that  river,  of  all  rivers  that  enter  it,  and  of  all  the 
country  watered  by  them."  Thus  was  asserted  the  French 
title  to  the  magnificent  valley  which  La  Salle  named  Louisiana, 
in  honor  of  the  French  monarch,  Louis  XIV. 


RIVALS   OF   ENGLAND  73 

On  his  way  back  La  Salle  founded  Fort  St.  Louis  at  Starved 
Rock  on  the  Illinois.  His  discovery  made  such  an  impression 
that  the  king  sent  him,  in  1684,  direct  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
with  a  commission  to  plant  a  colony  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.  By  ill  fortune  he  missed  the  river,  and  built 
another  Fort  St.  Louis  (1685)  far  west  of  the  delta,  some- 
where near  Matagorda  Bay.  He  could  not  find  his  river ;  his 
men  dwindled  away;  and  he  was  murdered  by  his  own  fol- 
lowers in  1687.  The  fort  was  destroyed  by  Indians,  while  the 
Spaniards  from  Mexico  were  trying  to  reach  it,  so  as  to  destroy 
the  possible  germ  of  a  French  settlement. 

La  Salle  was  a  hot-headed,  impetuous  man,  who  planned 
an  enterprise  of  colonization  beyond  his  means  and  his 
power  to  command  men;  yet  he  felt  more  than  any  other 
Frenchman  the  importance  of  the  West.  He  opened  up  a 
trade  between  the  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  and  between  the 
upper  and  lower  reaches  of  that  river,  and  he  secured  for  France 
a  valid  title  to  the  Mississippi  valley. 

The  keenness  of  the  rivalry  between  European  nations  for 
the  possession  of  North  America  was  shown  also  in  the  West 
Indies,  where  the  Dutch  took  several  islands,  and  estab-      50.  Inter- 
lished  a  footing  on  the  north  coast  of  South  America,   ^t^ons^ 
On  the  other  hand,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  next  chapter,        America 
they  lost  New  Netherland  to  the  English  in  1664.     England, 
France,  and  Spain  were  thus  left  sole  claimants  for  North 
America,  and  for  a  time  the  English  showed  less  aggressive- 
ness.    In  1667,  by  the  peace  of  Breda,  the  English  a  second 
time  admitted  the  rights  of  the  French  to  Acadia  and  Canada. 
By  the  treaty  of  Madrid  (1670)  Spain  for  the  first  time  ac- 
knowledged that  the  English  had  rightful  colonies  in  America. 

A  hotly  disputed  territory  lay  about  Hudson  Bay,  discovered 
in  1610  by  Henry  Hudson  for  the  English.  This  bay  was  a  back 
entrance  to  the  fur  country  of  the  northwest,  and  in  1670  the 
English  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  chartered  to  get  a  foot- 


74 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


hold  there.  The  French,  who  saw  their  monopoly  of  the  direct 
trade  through  the  upper  lakes  disturbed,  tried  to  seize  Hudson 
Bay,  and  its  ownership  remained  for  many  years  in  dispute. 

By  1689  the  three  great  colonizing  powers  had  developed 

their  policies  toward  the  native  Indians,  toward  the  colonists, 

51.  Colo-        and  toward  colonial  trade.     In  all  these  respects  Spain 

nial  policies  th  t  liberal.     The  natives  of  the  West  Indian 

of  Euro- 
pean states    islands  were  exterminated   by  the  cruelty  of  their  con- 
querors ;  though  on  the  mainland  the  Indians  were  more  mildly 
treated.     The  Spanish  colonists  had  no  self-government,  and 

were  ruled  by  governors 
sent  out  from  Spain,  and 
their  commerce  was  reg- 
ulated  by   the    Casa    de 
Contractacion,   or   House 
of  Trade,  at  Seville.     By 
a  rigorous   colonial   sys- 
tem, the  whole   Spanish 
colonial  trade,  including 
that  from  the  Philippines, 
was  the  monopoly  of  the 
merchants  of  the  single  port  of  Seville.     It  was  concentrated 
on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  whence  year  after  year  for  more 
than  two  centuries  sailed  the  "  plate  fleet "  carrying  to  Spain 
gold  and  silver,  Asiatic  goods,  and  colonial  exports. 

The  French  got  on  with  the  savage  natives  better  than  any 
other  power,  because  willing  to  meet  them  halfway.  They  lived 
on  terms  of  peace  and  almost  of  intimacy  with  their  Indian  sub- 
jects ;  and  French  frontiersmen  often  took  squaw  wives.  Soon 
arose  a  distinct  class  of  coureurs  de  bois,  white  men  and  half- 
breeds  who  had  adopted  Indian  dress  and  manner  of  life. 
Canada  was  substantially  a  big  military  camp,  which  existed 
chiefly  for  the  fur  trade :  even  the  French  permanent  colonists 
were  chiefly  peasants,  who  had  no  ambition  for  self-government. 


Spanish  Walls  and  Gateway  at 
St.  Augustine. 

Probably  erected  ia  the  17th  century. 


RIVALS   OF  ENGLAND  75 

The  English  despised  the  Indians,  and  eventually  exter- 
minated them  or  took  their  lands.  The  individual  colonists 
had  large  opportunities  for  making  a  living,  were  of  an  intelli- 
gent class,  and  had  local  self-government,  which  in  such  times 
as  the  English  civil  war  amounted  almost  to  independence. 
Down  to  1689  the  English  colonial  trade  was  little  restricted. 
The  ordinance  of  1651,  intended  to  take  the  carrying  trade 
from  the  Dutch,  was  not  enforced  in  America,  and  the  colonists 
traded  constantly  in  the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies,  in 
defiance  of  the  close  colonial  system  of  those  two  powers. 


From  1603  to  1689  the  relations  of  the  five  powers  of  North 
America  were  gradually  defined  as  follows :  j(l)  The  Spaniards 
held    undisputed    possession    of    Mexico    and    Florida.        52.  sum- 

(2)  The  French  occupied  Acadia  and  the  St.  Lawrence  mary 
valley  without  serious  opposition  from  any  other  power,  and 

had  established  a  good  claim  to  the  Mississippi  valley  by  the 
first  systematic  explorations  of  the  river :  (a)  the  central  por- 
tion by  Marquette  (1673)  ;  (b)  the  upper  river  by  Hennepin 
(1680) ;   (c)  the  lower  river  and  its  mouth  by  La  Salle  (1682). 

(3)  The  Swedes  for  a  time  had  a  foothold  on  the  Delaware. 

(4)  The  Dutch  claimed  the  region  from  the  Connecticut  to  the 
Delaware,  actually  colonized  the  Hudson,  and  annexed  the 
Swedish  settlement  on  the  Delaware  in  1655 ;  but  they  were 
forced  out  in  1664.  (5)  The  English  gradually  possessed  them- 
selves of  the  coast  from  South  Carolina  to  Maine. 

As  soon  as  they  were  founded,  the  colonies  of  the  various 
European  powers  began  to  take  part  in  European  wars  ;  and 
they  were  directly  affected  by  clauses  in  the  treaties  of 
St.  Germain  (1632),  of  Breda  (1654),  and  of  Madrid  (1670). 
The  three  European  powers  developed  different  policies  toward 
their  colonies  —  that  of  Spain  being  harsh  at  most  points, 
that  of  France  milder,  and  that  of  England  extraordinarily 
liberal  for  the  times. 

hart's  amer.  hist. — 5 


76 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


Suggestive 
topics 


Search 
topics 


TOPICS 

(1)  On  what  pretext  did  Argall  destroy  the  settlement  at  Mount 
Desert  ?  (2)  What  was  Acadia  ?  (3)  What  made  the  Iroquois 
so  powerful  ?  (4)  Why  did  the  Swedish  colony  fail  ?  (5)  What 
did  La  Salle  aim  to  accomplish  ?  (6)  What  forts  did  La  Salle 
found?  (7)  The  various  names  applied  to  the  Mississippi  River. 
(8)  Did  La  Salle  establish  a  good  claim  to  Texas  ? 

(9)  Champlain's  adventures  in  America.  (10)  Hudson's  voy- 
age on  the  Half-Moon.  (11)  The  early  public  buildings  on  Man- 
hattan Island.  (12)  Washington  Irving's  picture  of  the  Dutch 
in  New  Netherland.  (13)  Present  relics  of  the  patroonates. 
(14)  Methods  and  results  of  the  Jesuit  missions.  (15)  Hennepin's 
claim  to  first  discovery  of  the  Mississippi.  (16)  Earliest  accounts 
of  the  Chicago  River.  (17)  La  Salle  on  the  Mississippi.  (18)  The 
Spanish  plate  fleets.  (19)  Contraband  trade  with  the  Spanish 
colonies. 

REFERENCES 


Geography 


Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


Thwaites,  France  in  America ;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions, 
24-31. 

Thwaites,  Colonies,  §§  13, 18-22,  83,  84,  108-110  ;  Lodge,  English 
Colonies,  205-208,  285-294;  Higginson,  Larger  History,  120-136, 
180-183  ;  Larned,  History  for  Beady  Reference,  I.  72,  355,  654, 
III.  2324 ;  Winsor,  Cartier  to  Frontenac,  77-342  ;  Fiske,  Dutch 
and  Quaker  Colonies,  I.  80-242,  —  New  France  and  New  England, 
35-132 ;  Parkman,  Pioneers  of  France,  229-454,  —  Jesuits  in 
North  America, — La  Salle,  —  Old  Regime, —  Frontenac,  1-183, 
—  Pontiac,  I.  7-28,  46-68;  Gay,  Bryant's  History,  I.  339-369, 
429-475,  II.  115-164,  229-246,  499-532;  Sedgwick,  Samuel  de 
Champlain  ;  Thwaites,  Father  Marquette. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  6,  36,  —  Contemporaries,  I.  §§  37-43, 
150-159,  169-171,  —  Source  Readers,  I.  §§  47,  59,  65;  Old  South 
Leaflets,  nos.  46,  69,  91,  94,  96;  MacDonald,  Select  Charters, 
no.  9 ;  Higginson,  American  Explorers,  269-307.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist. 
Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  309,  310,  315,—  Historical  Sources,  §  68. 

Whittier,  St.  John  ;  Stedman,  Peter  Stuyvesanf s  New  Year's 
Call ;  E.  P.  Tenney,  Constance  of  Acadia ;  M.  H.  Catherwood, 
Lady  of  Fort  St.  John,—  Story  of  Tonty, — Romance  of  Bollard 
(Canada)  ;  A.  C.  Doyle,  Refugees  (Canada)  ;  E.  E.  Green,  Young 
Pioneers  (La  Salle)  ;  Irving,  Knickerbocker'1  s  History  of  New 
York;  J.  K.  Paulding,  Konigsmarke  (Swedes). 

Winsor,  America,  IV.  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  I. 


CHAPTER   V 

EXPANSION   OF  THE   ENGLISH   COLONIES,    1660-1689 

Cromwell's  death  in  1658  caused  the  downfall  of  the  Eng- 
lish Commonwealth,  and  King  Charles  II.  entered  London  in 
1660.     The  colonies  fell  back  into  the  hands  of  the  crown,  53.  The 

which  established  a  series  of  colonial  councils,  eventually   Bestoration 

in  the 
called  Lords  of  Trade.      Parliament,  as  a  part  of  its         colonies 

general  power  to  regulate  the  trade  of  the  empire,  in  (1660-1663) 

1660  and  1672  renewed,  with  additions,  the  earlier  navigation 

ordinance  (§  39),  so  as  to  direct  colonial  commerce  through 

English  ports  for  the  profit  of  the  English  merchant. 

Massachusetts,  governing  herself  under  her  charter  of  1629, 
had  been  since  1643  all  but  independent ;  she  had  even  estab- 
lished a  mint  and  coined  "pine-tree  shillings."  The  English 
government  rated  the  colony  soundly  for  this  coinage  ;  and 
required  that  people  who  were  not  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  be  permitted  to  vote  and  to  hold  office,  and 
that  the  services  of  the  Church  of  England  be  allowed.  The 
colony  also  had  to  repeal  its  anti-Quaker  laws,  and  the  public 
insanity  on  that  subject  gradually  came  to  an  end. 

The  king  smiled  upon  Connecticut,  and  in  1662  granted  a 
favorable  charter,  — the  first  charter  the  colony  ever  had,— 
with  bounds  extending  to  the  South  Sea.  New  Haven  was 
incorporated  into  Connecticut,  as  a  punishment  for  receiving 
Whalley  and  Goffe,  two  of  the  "regicides"  who  had  condemned 
Charles  I.  to  death.  Rhode  Island  received  a  charter  in  1663, 
giving  it  about  its  present  boundaries  and  a  liberal  govern- 
ment with  an  elective  governor.  Plymouth  got  no  charter, 
but  was  allowed  to  remain  separate  thirty  years  longer.  The 
Baltimores  were  confirmed  in  their  administration  of  Mary- 

77 


78 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


land.  Thus  in  1663  the  English  had  in  America  three  char- 
tered colonies,  one  proprietary  colony,  and  two  royal  colonies, 
Virginia  and  Plymouth,  without  charters. 

New  Netherland,  the  Dutch  colony  which  separated  New 
England  from  Maryland  and  Virginia,  was  a  feeble  and  ill- 
managed  commercial  community,  never  numbering  more 
54    Annex-  &  J 

ation  of  than  ten  thousand  people.  The  Dutch  West  India  Corn- 
New  Neth-  pany  wag  chiefly  interested  in  the  Indian  trade;  and 
completed  though  a  local  council  of  deputies  was  formed  in  1641,  it 
(1664-1689)  had  \i\x\Q  to  do,  and  could  not  even  raise  money  to  build 
a  schoolhouse.  Ill  treatment  of  the  neighboring  Indians  pro- 
voked fierce  and  de- 
structive wars  along 
the  Hudson.  In  1647 
the  last  Dutch  gov- 
ernor, Stuy  vesant,  was 
appointed;  he  was  a 
man  of  vigorous  char- 
acter, but  had  little 
means  for  defense  and 
no  intelligent  support. 
Although  nominally 
at  peace  with  Hol- 
land, the  king  of  Eng- 
land asserted  vague 
English  claims  by 
granting  the  region 
occupied  by  the  Dutch 


Lands  of  the  Duke  of  York. 
With  dates  of  cession  of  outlying  portions. 

to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  sending  a  fleet  to  capture 
New  Amsterdam  in  1664.  The  place  surrendered  (August  29), 
and  with  it  the  whole  colony  fell  without  a  blow  j  and  thus 
New  Netherland  became  New  York.  Three  years  later  the 
Dutch  reluctantly  renounced  the  colony,  and  except  for  a  few 
months  in  1674  they  never  held  it  again. 


COLONIAL   EXPANSION,   1660-1089 


79 


Instead  of  giving  effect  to  the  charters  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut,  which  covered  strips  of  territory  stretching 
westward  to  the  Pacific,  the  English  government  turned  over 
to  the  Duke  of  York  all  the  territory  between  the  Connecticut 
and  Delaware  rivers,  together  with  Long  Island,  most  of  what 
is  now  Maine,   and   the  islands  of  Nantucket  and   Marthas 


Water  Front  of  New  York  City  in  1673. 
From  a  drawing  by  Hugo  Allard. 

Vineyard.  But  the  duke  soon  gave  up  his  claims  beyond  the  pres- 
ent western  boundary  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut ;  and 
his  claim  in  Maine  was  transferred  to  Massachusetts  (1686). 

Under  the  grant  to  the  Duke  of  York,  all  his  laws  for  his 
colony  had  to  be  agreeable  to  those  of  England,  but  he  pro- 
vided for  no  assembly.  His  governor,  Nicolls,  therefore  called 
a  convention  of  Long  Island  towns  in  the  colonial  capital,  which 
was  now  called  New  York,  and  discussed  with  them  a  code 
which  he  had  drawn  up  and  shortly  put  into  force,  called  "  The 
Duke's  Laws  "  (1665).    The  city  of  New  York  received  a  charter 


80  COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 

from  Governor  Dongan  in  1683,  by  which  the  people  elected 
the  aldermen,  while  mayor,  recorder,  and  sheriff  were  appointed. 
Gradually  county  governments  were  introduced,  and  town 
government  was  extended  beyond  Long  Island;  but  there 
was  no  colonial  assembly  till  1683. 

Even  before    the   duke    got    possession  of    his   magnificent 

property,  he  began  to  cut  it  up  into  small  provinces.     In  1664 

55.  Settle-     he  granted  to  Berkeley  and  Carteret  the  tract  between 

Jerseys     °    Hudson   River    and   the   Delaware,  and  they   called  it 

(1664-1702)  Nova-Csesaria —  which  is  plain  New  Jersey.     Next  year 

they  granted  to  their  colonists  the  "Concessions,"  a  kind  of 

local  constitution.     In  1674  the  region  was  divided  into  the 

separate  colonies  of  East  New  Jersey  and  West  New  Jersey, 

each  with  a  proprietary  charter.     The  rich  soil  and  the  ease 

of  access  speedily  attracted  population.     A  contemporary  said, 

Contempo-     "  'Tis  far  cheaper  living  there  for  Eatables  than  here  in 

varies,  1. 575   England  ;  and  either  men  or  Women  who  have  a  Trade,  or 

are  Labourers,  can,  if  industrious,  get  near  three  times  the 

Wages  they  commonly  earn  in  England."     Some  Swedes  and 

Dutch  were  on  the  ground  when  the  colony  was  transferred ;  a 

body  of  Scotch  Presbyterians  came  to  East  Jersey ;  and  New 

England  Puritans  settled  Newark  and  other  towns. 

Fen  wick  and  Byllynge,  two  wealthy  Quakers,  got  control  of 
the  colony  of  West  Jersey,  in  which  they  encouraged  genuine 
religious  toleration ;  and  many  Quakers  settled  here.  The  land 
grants  of  both  the  Jerseys  finally  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  body 
of  proprietors,  including  William  Penn j  and  in  1702  they  sur- 
rendered their  proprietorship,  and  the  colonies  were  united  into 
the  single  royal  province  of  New  Jersey. 

The  west  side  of  the  Delaware,  beyond  the  Duke  of  York's 

56.Pennsyl-  patent,  was  one  of  the  fairest  regions  in  the  new  world, 

Delaware       fronting  on  tide  water,  and  abounding  in   arable   land, 

(1681-1700)   in  forests,  and  minerals.     In  March,  1681,  a  royal  patent 

was  issued  to  William  Penn  for  a  new  province  in  this  region, 


COLONIAL   EXPANSION,    1660-1689 


81 


SCALE  OF  MILES 
5  25  50  TS 


New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania. 

named  by  the  king,  in  compliment  to  Peim's  father,  Penn- 
sylvania. The  province  extended  westward  five  degrees  of 
longitude  from  the  Delaware  River;  the  northern  boundary 
was  "the  beginning  of  the  three  and  fortieth  degree  of  North- 
ern Latitude ;  "  and  the  southern  boundary  was  to  be  "a  Circle 
drawne  at  twelve  miles  distance  from  New  Castle  Northward 
and  Westward  unto  the  beginning  of  the  fortieth  degree  of 
Northern  Latitude,  and  then  by  a  streight  Line  Westward." 
But  this  circle  lies  entirely  between  39°  and  40°,  meeting 
neither  parallel ;  and  thus,  as  will  be  seen  later  (§  80),  arose 
a  boundary  dispute  with  Maryland.  By  a  grant  of  1682  from 
the  Duke  of  York,  Penn  got  also  "the  three  lower  counties," 
or  Delaware,  which  he  held  against  Maryland's  claim  and 
added  to  his  main  province. 


82 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


William  Penn  was  rich  and  well  educated,  fond  of  writing, 
and  author  of  many  works.     He  was,  further,  an  intelligent, 
public-spirited,    and     far-sighted     man     of    affairs.     Though 
brought  up  as  a  courtier,  to  the  grief  and  amazement  of  his  fam- 
ily he  early  became  a  Quaker, 
a  member  of  the  sect  most  op- 
posed to  pomps  and  vanities. 

In  all  the  history  of  the 
American  colonies  Penn's  was 
the  broadest  and  best-planned 
scheme  of  colonization.  The 
first  of  his  settlers  arrived  in 
the  year  1681,  and  within  a 
year  three  thousand  came  over. 
Penn  spent  two  years  in  liis 
colony,  and  laid  out  the  city  of 
Philadelphia  (1682)  on  a  novel 
and  convenient  checker-board 
plan.  Among  his  settlers  were  some  Welsh,  who  settled  the 
town  of  North  Wales ;  and  in  1683  German  Quakers  founded 
Germantown ;  later,  Moravians  settled  Bethlehem,  Ephrata,  and 
other  places;  English  and  Scotch-Irish  flocked  over;  and  in 
1700  the  colony  numbered  about  twenty-five  thousand  people. 

More  than  any  other  colonial  administrator,  Penn  under- 
stood how  to  keep  peace  with  the  Indians,  on  the  simple  prin- 
ciple of  coming  to  a  clear  and  simple  understanding,  and  then 
abiding  by  his  own  promises.  As  he  put  it,  "  Do  not  abuse 
them,  but  let  them  have  justice,  and  you  win  them." 

As  in  Maryland  and  New  York,  the  ownership  of  the  land 

of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  right  to  provide  a  government,  were 

_  both  vested  in  an  hereditary  proprietor.     As  proprietor, 

sylvanian       Penn  used  his  power  to  grant  a  "  Frame  of  Government  " 

governmen     ^g2),  which  was  practically  a  liberal  constitution.     His 

two   principles   of  government  were  "  First,  to   terrify  evil- 


William  Penn,  about  1664. 

Painted  when  a  soldier  in  the 
Netherlands. 


COLONIAL   EXPANSION,    1660-1689 


83 


doers :  secondly,  to  cherish  those  that  do  well ;  .  .  .  I  know 
some  say,  let  us  have  good  laws,  and  no  matter  for  the  men 
that  execute  them :  but  let  them  consider  that  though  good 
laws  do  well,  good  men  do  better."  The  Frame  of  Gov- 
ernment was  much  like  our  present  state  constitutions ;  it 
provided  for  a  governor,  representing  the  proprietor;  a  legis- 
lature of  two  elective  houses  (all  bills,  however,  were  to  be 


Old  Swedes'  Church,  Philadelphia,  built  in  1700. 

proposed  by  the  governor  and  the  upper  house,  the  lower 
house  having  merely  a  veto  power) ;  judges  partly  elective  ; 
and  vote  by  ballot.  A  city  government  was  set  up  for  Phila- 
delphia in  1691  with  mayor  and  aldermen. 

Yet  even  in  this  elysium  the  settlers  were  discontented; 
they  felt  that  the  proprietor  kept  too  much  for  himself,  and 
began  to  quarrel  with  their  governors.  In  1701  Penn  granted 
a  new  plan  of  government  called  Charter  of  Privileges,  in  which 


84  COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 

the  legislature  was  made  to  consist  of  only  one  house,  with  en- 
larged powers,  and  the  governor  received  the  power  to  veto 
acts  of  this  assembly ;  provision  was  made  also  for  a  separate 
Delaware  assembly.  In  1699-1701  Penn  spent  a  second 
period  of  two  years  in  Philadelphia.  At  his  death  in  1718  he 
left  the  rights  and  dignity  of  his  proprietorship  to  his  chil- 
dren, and  they  remained  in  his  family  down  to  the  Revolution. 
The  two  southern  colonies  grew  slowly  after  1655,  and  were 
rather  disorderly.     The  very  toleration  of  Maryland  brought 

58.  Vir-  in  Quakers,  Puritans,  Catholics,  and  members  of  the 
Mar*1]*  d  Church  of  England,  who  could  not  agree  ;  and  there  were 
(1655-1689)  several  small  insurrections.     In  Virginia  the  worst  Indian 

war  for  half  a  century  caused  the  massacre  of  three  hundred 

settlers  (1676),  and  the  government  was  extravagant  and  harsh. 

When  a  planter,   Nathaniel   Bacon,  headed  an  unauthorized 

expedition  against  the  Indians,  he  was  proclaimed  a  rebel  by 

Governor  Sir  William  Berkeley.     A  truce  was  patched  up,  but 

Bacon  soon  headed  a  formal  armed  insurrection,  caused  by  the 

bad  government  of  the  colony,  burned  Jamestown,  and  made 

himself  the  head  of  an  insurrectionary  state  (1676).     He  died 

at  the  height  of  his  power,  and  his  followers  quickly  melted 

away.     To  one  of  the  rebels  Berkeley  remarked,  "  Mr.  Drum- 

n  ^  M„        mond !  you  are  very  welcome,  I  am  more  glad  to  see  you 

Bacon's  than  any  man  in  Virginia :  you  shall  be  hanged  in  half  an 
Rebellion,  w  .       ,  .  .  . 

23  hour."     Drummond  and  thirty -rive  others  were  executed. 

No  wonder  King  Charles  recalled  Berkeley  in  disgrace,  exclaim- 
ing, "  That  old  fool  has  hanged  more  men  in  that  naked  country 
than  I  have  done  for  the  murder  of  my  father." 

South  of  the  James  several  small  settlements  were  early  made 
on  Albemarle  Sound  and  the  Chowan  River  by  wanderers  from 

59.  Settle-     Virginia,  from  New  England,  and  from  the  West  Indies. 

mentofthe    In    1663    Ellglan(1    enlarged    her    dominions   in   North 

Carolinas  °  ° 

(1663-1689)   America  by  granting  land   for   the  colony  of  Carolina 

(named  for  Charles  II.)  south  of  Virginia,  and  near  the  Spanish 


COLONIAL   EXPANSION,    16G0-1689 


85 


settlements  of  Florida.  The  first  Carolina  patent  was  granted 
to  a  body  of  eight  noble  proprietors,  for  a  tract  extending  from 
the  31st  to  the  36th  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  west  to  the 
South  Sea.  In  1665  a  second  patent  added  strips  of  territory 
southward  to  the  29th  de- 
gree,  and    northward    to 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Carolina  by  Patent  of  1665. 


36°  30'. 

The  English  philoso- 
pher John  Locke  was  re- 
quested by  the  proprietors 
to  draw  up  a  "  Funda- 
mental Constitution," 
often  called  "The  Grand 
Model,"  which  was  to  es- 
tablish a  kind  of  feudal 
system  in  Carolina.  At 
the  head  was  to  be  a  "  pal- 
atine," next  to  him  the 
"  proprietaries,"  below  them  "  landgraves,"  "  caciques,"  and 
commons  or  "leetmen."  This  constitution  never  went  into 
effect ;  instead,  a  popular  assembly  was  organized  (1669)  and 
governors  were  sent  out  by  the  proprietors. 

A  settlement  was  made  on  the  Ashley  Kiver  (1670),  and 
ten  years  later  was  moved  to  the  present  site  of  Charleston. 
Around  it  a  separate  community  grew  up,  though  united  under 
one  colonial  government  with  the  northern  Carolina  settle- 
ments. Scotch,  Quakers,  and  French  Huguenots  came  in,  and 
the  settlement  was  prosperous  from  the  beginning.  In  the 
course  of  thirty  years  perhaps  twenty  thousand  people  gath- 
ered in  the  two  Carolinas,  including  large  numbers  of  negroes ; 
for  the  rice  plantations  of  South  Carolina  gave  opportunity 
for  profitable  slave  labor. 

Of  all  the  colonies  from  Maine  to  Carolina,  the  hardest  to 
control  were  the  New  England  group.    Already  in  1664  a  royal 


86* 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


commission  had  been   sent   to  Boston  to  investigate  the  too 

independent  ways  of  Massachusetts.    Ten  years  later  the  home 

60   The  government  formed  a  plan  to  withdraw  all  the  charters 

NewEng-       in  New  England  and  to  put  a  governor-general  at  the 

the  Indians    nea(^  °^  one  province,  extending  from  the  Delaware  to 

(1664-1677)  the  Kennebec.     Edward  Randolph  appeared  in  Boston 

in  1675,  as  a  royal  agent  to  find  how  New  Hampshire  and 

Maine  came  to  be  parts  of  Massachusetts,  and  to  investigate 

other  irregularities ;  but  he  was  interrupted  by  the  outbreak 

of  King  Philip's  war  in 
Massachusetts. 

The  people  of  New 
England  had  a  reckless 
contempt  for  their  Indian 
neighbors,  freely  supply- 
ing powder  and  shot  to 
them  in  exchange  for 
furs,  and  fearlessly  plant- 
ing villages  like  Had- 
ley,  Lancaster,  and  Deer- 
Some  effort  was  made  to  civil- 


Scenb  of  King  Philip's  War. 


field,  far  out  in  the  wilderness. 
ize  the  natives.  John  Eliot,  "Apostle  to  the  Indians,"  spent 
his  life  in  that  work,  and  published  the  whole  scriptures  in 
an  Indian  tongue.  Schools  were  established  among  the  In- 
dians, and  an  effort  was  made  to  educate  some  of  them  at 
Harvard  College.  Settlements  of  converted,  or  "  praying,"  In- 
dians were  made,  especially  at  Natick  and  at  Concord,  and 
about  four  thousand  accepted  the  gospel.  The  good  effect  of 
such  efforts  was  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  brutalizing 
influence  of  the  rum  sold  by  the  whites  to  the  Indians. 

In  June,  1675,  war  broke  out  with  the  Pokanokets,  settled 
in  and  near  Rhode  Island;  their  chief,  Metacom,  or  King 
Philip,  attacked  the  Plymouth  frontier  towns  of  Swansea  and 
Middleboro.     Hadley  and  Springfield  on  the  Connecticut  were 


COLONIAL  EXPANSION,    1660-1689  87 

attacked  by  other  tribes,  and  war  raged  up  and  down  the  whole 
frontier.  On  both  sides  it  was  "  war  to  the  knife  and  the  knife 
to  the  hilt.^  The  praying  Indians  were  attacked,  and  many 
of  them  massacred,  by  the  whites.  The  Narragansett  Indians 
rose,  and  the  commissioners  of  the  New  England  Confedera- 
tion raised  a  force  which  killed  a  thousand  of  them. 

Gradually  Philip  was  driven  to  shelter  in  his  stronghold  at 
Mount  Hope,  Rhode  Island,  and  there  while  attempting  to 
escape  he  was  shot  by  an  Indian  (August,  1676).  The  colonial 
commander  cut  his  body  into  sections  and  carried  away  his 
head  and  hands  to  earn  a  premium  of  thirty  shillings.  This 
King  Philip's  war  came  near  annihilating  the  New  England 
colonies :  six  hundred  white  men  lost  their  lives,  and  a  dozen 
villages  were  destroyed.  The  Indians  lost  two  thousand  killed 
and  captured,  of  whom  some  — to  the  lasting  disgrace  of  the 
white  people  —  were  sold  into  slavery  in  the  West  Indies. 

The  pressure  of  the  home  government  was  soon  renewed, 
and  Edward  Eandolph  again  began  to  report  against  Massa- 
chusetts.    Though  the  colony  retained  Maine,  by  buying    61     strug. 
up  the   rival  claims   (1678),  she  lost  New   Hampshire    *£'£*•* 
(1679).     Worse  still,  she  lost  her  charter;  for  a  decree    chnagrt*rS 
of  the  Chancery  Court  in  England  (October  23,  1684)   (1677-1687) 
declared  that  it  was  no  longer  in  force,  because  its  provisions 
had  been  violated. 

The  Duke  of  York  came  to  the  English  throne  as  James  II. 
in  February,  1685;  and  set  out  to  exercise  unrestricted  powers 
both  in  England  and  in  the  colonies.  In  1686  he  made  Sir 
Edmund  Andros  "  Governor-in-chief  in  and  over  the  territory 
and  dominion  of  New  England,"  the  province  including  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island, 
and  Plymouth.  Andros  first  of  all  reorganized  Massachusetts. 
As  there  was  no  longer  a  charter,  he  appointed  a  council 
which,  with  his  assent,  should  have  power  to  make  laws. 
But  when  the  council  ordered  the  towns  to  levy  taxes,  the 


88 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


town  of  Ipswich  flatly  refused.  Some  of  the  principal  men 
of  that  place  were  therefore  tried  and  severely  punished ;  and 
Andros  forbade  special  town  meetings. 

In  1686,  under  great  pressure,  Rhode  Island  surrendered  her 
charter.  Next  year  Andros  went  to  New  Haven  and  demanded 
the  Connecticut  charter.  Tra- 
dition has  it  that  the  lights 
were  blown  out  and  the  docu- 
ment carried  away;  however 
that  may  be,  Andros  put  an 
end  to  the  charter  government. 
Since  he  was  governor  also  of 
New  York  and  of  the  Jerseys, 
he  thus  almost  brought  about 
a  colonial  union,  in  defiance  of 
the  will  of  the  people,  and  by 
violent  and  dangerous  methods. 
A  revolution  in  England  re- 
moved the  pressure  in  Amer- 

62.  The         ica.      When  James  II. 

hTtion^f  V°~  attempted  to  "dispense" 

1688  with  (that  is,  suspend) 

acts  of  Parliament,  many  of 
his  subjects  invited  his  neph- 
ew, William  III.  of  Orange,  to 
come  to  England.  James  fled 
the  kingdom;  and  in  February, 
1689,  the  two  houses  of  Parlia- 
ment declared  that  he  had 
abdicated,  and  that  his  daughter  Mary  and  her  husband, 
William  III.,  were  lawful  king  and  queen  of  England. 

The  news  of  the  revolution  reached  Boston  in  April,  1689, 
and  two  weeks  later  the  people  joyfully  laid  their  hands  on 
many  of  the  royal  officers.     Sir  Edmund  Andros  was  forthwith 


English  Officer,  about  1680. 

Uniform  of  the  Maritime  Foot 
Regiment. 


COLONIAL  EXPANSION,    1660-1689  89 

clapped  into  prison ;  and  the  colonial  government  was  reestab- 
lished provisionally,  under  the  old  charter  of  1629.  In  Plym- 
outh, Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut  the  former  governments 
were  again  put  in  force.  A  similar  rising  in  New  York  a  few 
days  later  had  an  unfortunate  outcome.  Jacob  Leisler,  a  well- 
to-do  merchant,  took  the  responsibility  of  heading  a  provisional 
government  under  the  self-assumed  title  of  lieutenant  governor. 
After  a  few  months  of  this  irregular  administration,  a  royal 
governor  was  sent  over ;  and  Leisler,  who  hesitated  to  give  up 
his  authority,  was  found  guilty  of  high  treason  and  executed, 
though  it  is  difficult  to  see  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  a  crime. 


After  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  in  1660,  Plymouth,  Vir- 
ginia, and  Maryland  went  back  to  about  their  old  relations  to 
the  home  government.     Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  63.  Sum- 
received  charters;  but  Massachusetts,  though  she  kept         mary 
her  charter  twenty-four  years,  was  obliged  to  stop  persecution 
of  Quakers  and  discriminations  against  the  Church  of  England. 

In  1663  began  a  second  era  of  colonization.  Carolina  was 
established ;  then  the  Dutch  were  dispossessed  in  New  Nether- 
land,  and  five  more  colonies  were  set  up  —  New  York,  East  and 
West  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware ;  in  New  England, 
New  Hampshire  was  separated  from  Massachusetts. 

Then  Sir  Edmund  Andros  was  sent  over  to  consolidate  the 
northern  colonies  and  to  take  away  the  liberties  of  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts  by  breaking  down  their 
charter  governments.  The  Revolution  of  1688  in  England 
interrupted  these  plans,  and  prepared  the  way  for  a  return  to 
the  milder  type  of  colonial  government. 

TOPICS 

(1)  How  does  the  navigation  act  of  1660  differ  from  that  of  1651?   Suggestive 
(2)  Who  devised  the  rectangular  plan  of  Philadelphia  ?     (3)  Why     opics 
did  the  settlers  quarrel  with  Penn  ?     (4)  Was  Nathaniel  Bacon  a 
traitor  ?     (5)  How  did  the  Carolina  proprietary  patents  differ  from 


90 


COLONIAL   ENGLISHMEN 


Search 
topics 


that  of  Maryland  ?  (0)  Quakers  in  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania. 
(7)  Make  a  list  of  the  Duke  of  York's  land  holdings  in  Amer- 
ica and  tell  what  became  of  each.  (8)  In  what  condition  did  King 
Philip's  War  leave  New  England  ?  (9)  Was  Governor  Andros  a 
tyrant?  (10)  What  was  Leisler's  offense?  (11)  Why  was  the 
Massachusetts  charter  annulled  ?  (12)  Early  life  of  William  Penn. 
(13)  Whalley  and  Goffe  in  New  England.  (14)  Royal  commis- 
sion in  Boston,  1663-1664.  (15)  The  Duke's  Laws.  (16)  Life  in 
New  Netherland,  1650-1660.  (17)  History  of  the  "pine-tree 
shillings."  (18)  First  charter  of  New  York  city.  (19)  Early 
descriptions  of  New  York  under  English  dominion.  (20)  Early 
accounts  of  New  Jersey  ;  of  Pennsylvania  ;  of  Carolina.  (21)  Life 
among  the  New  England  Indians.  (22)  What  were  enumerated 
goods  ?  (23)  Arguments  for  the  colonial  union  desired  by  Andros. 
(24)  Boundary  controversies  under  the  Connecticut  charter. 


Geography- 
Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

Andrews,  Colonial  Self-Government. 

Thwaites,  Colonies,  §§  32,  35-38,  69-72,  85-89  ;  Fisher,  Colonial 
Era,  49-56,  71-81,  146-164,  187-206;  Lodge,  English  Colonies, 
chs.  i.  iii.  v.  vii.  xi.  xii.  xiv.  xvi.  xviii.-xxi.  passim  ;  Andrews, 
Colonial  Self-Government;  Fiske,  Old  Virginia,  II.  45-116,  131- 
162,  270-290,  —  Beginnings  of  New  England,  199-278,  —Dutch 
and  Quaker  Colonies,  I.  243-294,  II.  1-61,  99-208  ;  Doyle,  English 
in  America,  I.  230-266,  314-363,  III.  114-272  ;  Gay,  Bryant's  His- 
tory, II.  247-395,  401-449,  472-498,  III.  1-24 ;  Wendell,  Cotton 
Mather,  21-87  ;  Hodges,    William  Penn. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  22-26,  —  Contemporaries,  I.  §§  54,  70,  71, 
76-81,  116,  121-125,  132-136,  155-157,  160-167,  —  Source  Headers, 
I.  §§  40,  49  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Charters,  nos.  24,  26,  27,  29-33, 
35-41  ;  American  History  Leaflets,  no.  16 ;  Old  South  Leaflets, 
nos.  21,  22,  51,  88,  95.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Sylla- 
bus, 301,  310,  313,  —  Historical  Sources,  §§  70-72. 

Whittier,  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim  ;  M.  W.  Goodwin,  White  Aprons 
(Bacon)  ;  Mary  Johnston,  Prisoners  of  Hope  (Bacon)  ;  M.  E. 
Wilkins,  Heart's  Highway  ( Va.)  ;  J.  P.  Kennedy,  Bob  of  the  Bowl 
(Md.)  ;  Simms,  Cassique  of  Kiawah  (S.C.)  ;  Hezekiah  Butter- 
worth,  Wampum  Belt  (Penn.)  ;  Cooper,  Wept  of  Wish-ton-Wish 
(Philip), —  Water  Witch  (N.Y.)  ;  Hawthorne,  Gray  Champion 
(Andros),  —  Grandfather's  Chair,  pt.  i.  chs.  viii.  ix.  ;  W.  Seton, 
Charter  Oak  ;  E.  L.  Bynner,  Begum's  Daughter  (Leisler). 

Winsor,  America,  III.  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  I. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
COLONIAL   LIFE   (1700-1750) 

While  the  colonies  grew,  the  colonists  had  much  the  same 
experiences  as  people  nowadays,  —going  to  church  or  going  to 
prison,   working,  traveling,  trading,  fighting,  marrying, 
and  dying,  —  although  conditions  and  opportunities  were     lonial  pop- 
very  different.      In    population   the    colonies    increased  elation 

slowly :  New  England  received  little  direct  immigration  after 
1640,  and  in  1700  numbered  but  105,000  inhabitants;  the 
southern  colonies  (Maryland,  Virginia,  and  the  Carol inas) 
together  had  about  110,000;  the  middle  colonies  55,000;  mak- 
ing a  total  of  about  270,000  people.  The  largest  towns  were 
Boston,  with  about  7000  people,  and  Philadelphia,  with  4000. 

The  ruling  element  in  every  colony  was  of  English  descent; 
but  there  were  Dutchmen  in  New  York  and  a  few  on  the 
Delaware ;  Swedes,  a  few  Finns,  and  a  large  German  element 
(later  called  Pennsylvania  Dutch)  in  Pennsylvania;  French 
Huguenots  in  several  colonies,  especially  South  Carolina; 
Highland  and  Lowland  Scotch,  and  Scotch-Irish  from  the 
Protestant  counties  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  principally  on  the 
western  frontier.  The  negroes  in  1700  were  about  46,000 
in  number.  The  Indians  were  nowhere  fused  into  the  white 
communities. 

Most  of  the  colonists  lived  in  the  easily  constructed  log  house, 
or   in  a  frame  structure,  clapboarded  or  shingled.     In 
Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Charleston,  and  some      nialhome 
other  places  there  were  statelier  houses  constructed  of  llfe 

brick  made  near  the  spot.     Among  the  poorer  families  the 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 6         91 


92 


COLONIAL  AMERICANS 


Bull-Pringle  House,  Charleston, 
built  about  1760. 


rude  furniture  was  hardly 
more  than  floor,  seats, 
and  tables,  all  made  of 
"  puncheons,"  —  that  is, 
of  split  halves  of  small 
tree  trunks,  —  with  a  few 
pewter  dishes,  a  fireplace, 
and  its  utensils.  The  bet- 
ter houses  had  substan- 
tial oaken  chests,  chairs, 
and  tables,  and  handsome 
clocks. 

In  dress  our  well-to-do 
forefathers  followed  as  closely  as  they  could  the  English 
fashions  of  elaborate  suits  of  cloth  or  velvet  or  silk,  and  full- 
bottomed  wigs.  The  most  common  materials  were  homespun 
linen  and  woolen,  though  on  the  frontier  deerskin  was  used. 

Food  abounded :  game  wandered  in  and  out  of  all  the  settle- 
ments, shellfish  were  abundant,  and  the  New  England  coast 
fisheries  furnished  fish;  Indian  corn  was  everywhere  grown, 
and  there  was  plenty  of  wheat  flour. 

The  colonies  were  swept  by  diseases,  chiefly  due  to  igno- 
rance and  uncleanliness  :  "ship-fever,"  "small  pocks," " yellow 
fever  " ;  "  break-bone  fever,"  fever  and  ague,  and  other  varieties 
of  malaria;  and  medical  practice  was  lamentably  unskillful. 

Though  England  was  a  land  abounding  in  schools  and  pos- 
sessed of  world-famous  universities,  her  southern  colonies  in 
66  Colo-        America,  broken  up  into  separate  and  widely  distributed 
nial  educa-    plantations,  could  not  maintain  schools.    Governor  Berke- 
ley reported  (1671)  for  Virginia:  "I  thank  God  there 
are  no  free   schools   nor   printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not 
have  these  hundred  years ;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedi- 
ence, and  heresy,  and  sects  in  the  world,  and  printing  has 
divulged  them,  and  libels  against  the  best  government.     God 


tion 


COLONIAL   LIFE 


93 


keep  us  from  both."  The  New  England  towns  established  the 
first  schools  in  northeastern  America,  though  closely  followed 
by  the  ■  Collegiate  School  of  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  New 
Amsterdam  (1633).  The  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  showed  its  in- 
terest in  education  by  requiring 
that  every  town  of  fifty  families 
should  maintain  a  school,  and  every 
town  of  a  hundred  families  a  gram- 
mar school  (that  is,  a  Latin  school)  ; 
but  the  towns  too  frequently  avoided 
the  responsibility  if  they  could,  and 
no  public  education  was  provided 
for  the  girls.  In  1689  the  Penn 
Charter  school  was  founded  in 
Philadelphia. 

Three  small  colleges  provided 
higher  education  for  the  colonies. 
Harvard  College,  named  from  the 
Rev.  John  Harvard,  its  earliest  private  benefactor,  was  founded 
(1636)  "to  advance  learning  and  perpetuate  it  to  posterity." 
From  the  beginning  it  trained  the  ministers,  and  also  had  as 
students  future  men  of  affairs  and  statesmen.  William  and 
Mary  College  was  established  in  Virginia  (1693)  ;  King  William 
III.,  the  colony,  and  private  subscribers  united  to  give  the 
college  a  home  in  Williamsburg.  Yale  College  was  "first  con- 
certed by  the  ministers"  (1700),  and  its  earliest  property  was 
forty  volumes  given  by  the  founders  for  a  library.  The  college 
was  soon  removed  from  Saybrook  to  New  Haven,  and  (1718) 
received  its  name  from  Elihu  Yale,  a  public-spirited  English- 
man who  interested  himself  in  the  new  institution. 

The  most  notable  colonial  writers  in  the  seventeenth  century 
were  the  discoverers,  explorers,  and  colonists  who  wrote  enter- 


A  Colonial  Dandy, 
about  1760. 

Portrait  of  Nicholas  Boylston, 
merchant,  Boston. 


94  COLONIAL   AMERICANS 

taming  accounts  of  their  experiences.     Thus  John  Smith  and 

William    Strachey  wrote   about  Virginia;    William   Bradford 

67  Colo         anc^  Jonn  Winthrop  each  left  an  admirable  historical 

nial  litera-     account  of   the  colony  in  which  he   was  governor  and 
ture  ,      n 

leader. 

In  the  South  the  chief  writer  of  literary  merit  was  Colonel 
William  Byrd,  who  left  in  manuscript  a  charming  book  of  travel 
called  History  of  the  Dividing  Line.  In  the  middle  colo- 
nies, till  Benjamin  Franklin  came,  the  only  man  who  can  be 
called  a  literary  light  is  William  Penn ;  but  the  German  Mora- 
vians were  great  printers,  and  issued  the  first  Bible,  except 
Eliot's  Indian  Bible,  published  within  the  colonies.  The  first 
newspaper  in  the  colonies,  the  Boston  News  Letter,  appeared  in 
1704 ;  and  the  trial  of  John  Peter  Zenger  in  New  York  (1732) 
established  the  important  principle  that  a  journalist  can  not 
be  convicted  of  libel  for  publishing  the  truth. 

Works  of  fiction  were  unknown  except  as  old  writers  dealt 
too  much  in  neighborhood  gossip;  but  there  were  several 
writers  of  poor  verse.  The  Bay  Psalm  Book,  the  first  book 
printed  in  the  English  colonies  (1640),  was  made  by  a  syndi- 
cate of  ministers,  whose  poetic  gifts  may  be  shown  by  a 
quotation  from  the  63d  Psalm :  — 

**  Their  poyson's  like  serpents  poyson  ; 
they  like  deafe  Aspe,  her  eare 
that  stops.    Though  charmer  wisely  charme, 
his  voice  she  will  not  heare. 
Within  their  mouth  doe  thou  their  teeth 
break  out,  o  God  most  strong, 
doe  thou  Jehovah,  the  great  teeth 
break  of  the  lions  young." 

The  favorite  literature  for  educated  men  was  theological  and 
controversial.  The  most  famous  writer  of  this  kind  was  Cotton 
Mather,  a  Boston  minister,  long  the  leading  man  of  New 
England,  who  wrote  an  enormous  and  confused  folio  which  he 


The  Bof  ton  News-Letter* 


— ~  fDubUfl>cD  &p  'Zutlyonty* 


"~~       •  Fro*  JS^onDar   AprU  '"•  ;° 
^Y  ai+r*  fan  o*~*  **  W  *»'•  "*l- 

•  Sheer  lately  Pnnudirui.-.  b< •—  ;••   '* 
£<./«■***  A&mjn  SCOcUod     *»*  ;_  "    ^ 

w.v.u^tharttxv  etaincl  new  M  ^  iy u .an 

W^*^^?fK»nf^S  wdjiune  to" 
^es  at  conv.  •J^*gZ^SJlcCf  ^  the 


1704. 


-  Ittikev  ft  oJpfcnrcs,  that  a  great  Number  or  o- 
"*.r41l--ifre£rJJtt  pcrlbitt  arc  come  over  from  htuncr, 
!L> « orttCTCwor accepting  her  MJjcuv's  Grauous 
>c«J  iltr  ;  bowm  reality,  to  tncreafe  Div.uons  in 
♦•x  .1  :ioo,  andm>  entertain  a  Com  fpjndcncc  with 
K«'4'  1n»t  illcir  il1  Intentions  are  evident  horn 
St  rii!W."n2b*»  their  owning  the  Intereft  of  the 
£3  led  &;•,*>««  VIII.  their  fecret  Cabals, 
,J»»iir"cu>ilJrup  of  Arms  and  Aromumu-xi, 
find  them. 


'jbhrfrrthey  ci»»  L.._ 

/Jlhii  hturtrvl^tnc  late  Wntmge.and .  Adtmgs 

offdrTtfiletcndfea  pcrfons,  many  of  whom  M 

lcrjlRrvlud  ir ;  tnat  frvcral  of  trum  have  de« 

cuifh'thc  pre  lather  embrace  Popery  than  con- 

:f*ani  for  the  «u  Government ;  mat  they  r.fufe 

«J«kign,  and  I  Seen,  but  ufc  the  ambiguous  word 

"5*g  Kinr  nn*mc  of  th-.m  pray  in  exprcfsW'ords^ 

•f  Snd  gcmi vi  Royal  Ftmuy  ;  and  the  charita-* 

s>  »h'Rin.dr»s« Prince"  wh>  has  fhewd  them* 

S^OOt  lfrms.'-  'HcTinewifc  takes  notice  of 

fP<-fon  Jateltegof  Kind  in  Cypher,  St  dire&ed 

Wfiyi  th-t.tbuiittf.  thither  from  St.  Gomaiia. 

W;  thrroleM--  g-cateft  Jaoobttcs   who  will  not 

MKfr-now  «r5  b?  taking  the  Oaths  to  Her  Ma- 

Bifrom  StGfo-Xne  Papilts  arid  their  Compv. 

■ftbjeft.  co^>»iim  lit  up  for  the*  Litxrt,  of 

S'- to  kyJOfrujry.'ro  thcic  ov/n  Principles,'  but 
that  lifpup.-a  Divifion*  in  the  Nation.  He 
pp  roniicy  tggravaie- taofc  thing?  which  the- 
Krtaiplain  of,  at  to  £«§/4«<i>rehjfing-to  air 
10  r,  a  frercom  of  Trade,  Cc.  and  do  all  they 
Ig^'UcxicDivifiijns  betwixt  the;  Nations,  &:  to 
m-  a  r.«*re(s  of thofe  things'complain'd'  of.'  ■ 
j^^/cobi.cijhe.lays,  do  all  they  cum  to  p.*r- 
prie:j.%rjon  that  their'  pretended -Ifcing-  is  a 
■"BUJttiH.his. Heart,  tho'-hedjres  not  declare  it 

Sidcr  the  Potfer  otjrr.nte*  that  he  i*  ac- 
^witV.;UievMiftakf5  SMS  Father  $-Gjo^ 
*"    fill  govern  iifcirnore  according  to  La,W5 
irnleif  to  his  Subieih;.  '     •  -  "•'•■•       •- : 
6*g*JfJ[#niHc4he  S^ttniitri  of  their  cwa'Party,. 

^^"-Wfatpi^iui-hJijfteji  ^t&Sr'rUnderr  ,*.in.c ;' 
i/^WSnfclves'ftW cf-*#err^«aj-3',  und'- into. 


iiJonOap  a- 


From  all  »hi$  h'  infj*  T\\n  thry  havtrhope*  of 
AmiTaace  Trofi-.  ftm**,  ori«rrwili-  they  would  nevet. 
be  A»  iiSpudcnt ;  ,nd  he  gyvrt  Rcaloni  fur  his  Ap- 
pithtntii  m  thit  tht  f>tn<h  ^.ing  nwv  fend  Troop* 
tru&cr  ih:»  Winter,  t.  Bccaufc  the  Engiijl,  {c  D*ttb 
v.ill  not  thrn  be  at  Sea  to  opprH-  iVum.*  a.  He  can 
then.beft  (pare  them,  the  Su.|<»n  <i  A«Ttion  beyond  j 
Sea  peint  over.  %.  The  ExpeUttion  given  him  of  a,  j 
confide rablc  number  to  joy  n  them,  may  incourage 
{um*totheuodcrtakine  with  fc*'cr  Memif  he  can 
but  lend  over  a  fulhtient  number  ol  Ot}vctrs  with 
•Arms  and  Ammun  don.  -  . 

He-  endeavours  in  the  reft  of  h:s  Letters  to  an2 
fwer  the  iuoliflj  Pretctkcs  of  the  Pretender's  being 
a  PlfOtcftant.and  that  he  will  govern  us  according 
to  Law.    He  lay*,  that  being  bnd  up  in  the  Reli- 
cion  and  Politicks  oT t'tuict.,  he  is  by  Education  a. 
iLted  Enemy  to  our  L;b  rty.andtUligion.  •That 
the  Obligations  which  he  :.nd  his  family  owe  to> 
tlieT'fto "King,  mult  ntcefuVily  make  him  to  be 
v •  !.jl!y  at  his  Devotion,  and  to  follow  his  Example; 
t:i..t  it  he  fit  u;on  the  Throne,  the  three  Nations 
rauft  beoblip  d  to  pay  the  Debt  which  he  owes  the/ 
T»t»tk  KingToV  the  Education  of  himlelf,  and  for 
Entertaining  hi?  Juppol' d  Fr.ther  and  his  Eonvly^- 
A'ndiincc  the  Kin-  tnuil  refturi  him  by  his  Troops,., 
it  ever  he   b.  rJtorvd,    he  will.  Re    to   fecurc 
bis*  own  Debt,  b.forc  thofe  Troops  leave  Burcin. 
The  Pretender  being  a  good  Proficient  in  the  f'mc& 
and  ^«(/w. .Schools,  "h'c  will  never  think  himfelf, 
lumciently  aveng'd.  bit  \r;  the  utter  Ririne  of  his. 
Protcirunt  Subjects,  both  as  Hereticlu  and  Traitors.' 
The  latx  Qiieen,  his  pretended  Mother,  who  irt^ 
cold  Blood  when  (he  w.s  Oueen  «f  Britdify  advis't?,. 
to  turn  the  Weft  of  Stmlsutd  "rritb  a  hunting  Field, 
,vill  be  tlien  for.  doing  lo  by  the  greatefr.  part  of  the 


Ivatidh  :  and,  no  doubt,  is  at  Pains  to  Have  her  pre^ 
tended  Son  educated  to  her  own  Mind  :  Tbercfoi  v 
he  fays,  it  were  a- great  Madnefs  in  •the' Nation,  tcv 
take  a  Prince  bred  up  in  the  horrid.-SchDol  of  Ingra-f 
titudc,  Perfccution  and.  Cfuelry,  and  filled  \vidx>; 
Rage  and  Envy.    The .  7««4;;m,  he  fays,  both  ia- 
Scotland  and  at  St.  Gennninsr  are  impatient  undec. ! 
their  p'refent  Straits,  and  knowing  theijr -Cirtjim« •; 
Ulances  cannot  be  much  wbrfe  than  they  are,. at' I 
rpreltut,  an:  the  more  inclinable  to  the  Ooarrt:;king. 

•  He adds,That  the-  rnncU  K'ng  knows  there  canTl0Cl,, 
'  be  a  more  .'effectual,  way  for  himielF  to  arrive  at  the*. 

Uniyerfal. Monarchy,  and  to;"rulne  thcrProKflanC', 
lnterrft,  than  by'letting  up  the  Pretender  upon  the'  1 
Throne ,of  GrCat  iBrit/ti.:,  he  will  in  all  prubahiiitjr, 
attempt  tt*i  and  tho'  he  fliould  be  perfuuded  that 
the  Ddign,. would  mifcarry  in'the  clofc.yet  hecun-{ 
cot  but,  reap  fume'  Advantage  by  imbroiling'  the. 
three  Nations.  *  .'        '""       : 

;  -f  From  all  this'  the  Author  concludes  it  to  be  the?. 

•  Inter-  it  of  rheiNatbn,  to 'provide  h:  Self  defence  ■- 
i-id  lays,  that  us  many  have  -already  t„kea  r^ie>^ 
Ahi?tn,;and  arc  furnilhing  themfclves  with  rAras 

.  •anaAmraunkion, -he  hope^  the  Government  wilh 
f.Ot  onlyvaltow.it,  but  encoaraftc  it,  fecc  th'^Natt- 
'  &iO)ugh; ■  ill  Eo*pp?«;4S  yocMau'in  the  pel«\c«5- 


First  Page  of  the  First  American  Newspaper,  1704. 
95 


COLONIAL  AMERICANS 


gious  life 


called  Magnolia  Christi  Americana.  The  two  most  popular 
books  in  the  colonies  were  the  New  England  Primer,  with  its 
pious  doggerel  and  rude  woodcuts,  which  went  through  many 
editions;  and  Michael  Wiggles  worth's -Z>a?/  of  Doom,  which 
was  learned  by  heart  by  hundreds  of  persons,  —  it  is  a  fearful 
description  of  that  grewsome  place 

"  Where  God's  fierce  ire  kindleth  the  fire, 
and  vengeance  feeds  the  flame, 
With  piles  of  wood  and  brimstone  flood, 
that  none  can  quench  the  same." 

Wigglesworth's  repulsive  poem  states  in  extravagant  form 
the  creed  of  the  New  England  Puritans,  who  built  their  the- 
68    Colo-       °l°gy  on  tne  works  of  John  Calvin  (died  1564).     This 
nial  reli-        great  divine  made  his  fundamental  doctrine  "  predestina- 
tion " ;  that  is,  he  taught  that  the  whole  human  race  was 
doomed  to  perdition,  except  as  God  might  "  elect "  a  few  per- 
sons to  be  saved.     Hence  good  deeds,  contemptuously  called 
"  filthy  rags  of  works,"  could  not  in  themselves  save  anybody. 

Even  such  heads  of 
the  church  as  Cotton 
Mather  were  tor- 
mented by  the  fear 
that  after  all  they 
might  not  be  "  elect." 
On  the  other  hand, 
Calvin  set  forth  the 
great  doctrine  of  "free 
will"  —  of  choice  be- 
tween good  and  evil, 
with  its  emphasis  on 
personal  duty  and 
responsibility. 
The  Church  of  England,  or  Episcopal  Church,  which  held 
milder  doctrines  of  salvation,  was  now  gaining  ground.     Al- 


Parish  Church  at  Smithfield,  Va., 
built  about  1700. 

Oldest  church  still  standing  in  the  South.   From 
a  view  in  the  Virginia  Historical  Society. 


COLONIAL  LIFE  97 

ready  long  established  in  Virginia,  it  was  made  the  official 
church,  supported  by  public  taxation,  in  the  Carolinas  and  in 
New  York,  though  aided  also  by  voluntary  contributions ;  and 
in  1689  the  first  "King's  Chapel"  was  built  in  Boston  as  a 
place  of  Episcopal  service.  The  Congregational  Church  was 
supported  by  public  taxation  in  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts 
(including  Maine  and  Plymouth),  and  Connecticut.  In  Rhode 
Island,  the  Jerseys,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Delaware 
there  was  no  state  church. 

Side  by  side  with  the  established  churches  lived  many  other 
religious  sects.  The  Baptists  were  settled  chiefly  in  Rhode 
Island ;  Presbyterians,  English  or  Scotch,  in  the  middle  and 
southern  colonies ;  a  few  Jews  in  Rhode  Island,  Georgia,  and 
Pennsylvania;  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  New  York; 
Lutherans,  Moravians,  Mennonists,  and  other  German  sects  in 
Pennsylvania ;  Catholic  Scotch  Highlanders  in  the  Carolinas ; 
English  Catholics  in  Maryland;  Quakers  in  most  of  the 
colonies. 

Both  North  and  South  many  of  the  church  buildings  were 
handsome  and  commodious.  In  New  England  the  able-bodied 
population  was  required  to  go  to  service,  where  pews  were 
carefully  assigned  according  to  the  social  position  of  the 
attendants.  In  the  sermons  —  two  on  Sunday  and  a  third, 
the  "  Thursday  lecture "  during  the  week  —  our  forefathers 
received  a  good  mouthful  of  doctrine,  though  two  hours  and  a 
half  was  thought  too  long  for  a  sermon.  The  Psalms  only 
were  sung,  lined  out  by  the  minister.  '  Sunday,  commonly 
called  Sabbath,  lasted  from  sundown  on  Saturday  to  sundown 
on  Sunday,  and  in  strictness  was  as  near  a  Jewish  Sabbath  as 
the  conditions  admitted. 

Calvinistic  theology,  with  its  stern  and  pitiless  logic,  did 
not  save  New  England  from  the  fearful  belief,  then  cur-  69.  The 

rent   throughout   the  world,  that   human   beings   could      witchcraft 
become  "witches,"  and  could  make  a  personal  compact  (1692) 


98 


COLONIAL  AMERICANS 


with  the  devil  which  would  enable  them  to  change  their  shape, 
to  travel  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  especially  to  bring 
bodily  harm  to  their  enemies.     Nowhere  else  in  the  civilized 
world  did  this  awful  delusion  play  so  little  part  as  in  the  Ameri- 
can colonies,  though  there  were  a  few  cases  of  the  execution 
of  witches.    In  1692  the  children  of  a  minister  in  Salem,  Massa- 
chusetts, accused  an  Indian  slave  woman,  Tituba,  of  bewitching 
them.    In  a  few  weeks  scores  of  the  "  afflicted  "  were  accusing 
their  neighbors  of  the  foulest  crimes  and  most 
improbable   orgies.     The  principal  testimony 
was   the  "  spectral   evidence  "  —  that  is,  the 
assertion  of  the  "afflicted"  that  the  accused 
people    were    sticking    pins    into    them    and 
otherwise  "hurting"  them.     Nineteen  alleged 
witches  were  hanged,  and  one  was  pressed  to 
death  by  heavy  weights  for  refusing  to  plead 
guilty  or  not  guilty. 

To  save  themselves,  the  so-called  witches 
accused  other  people,  and  so  the  number  rolled 
up  till  more  than  fifty  people  were  so  crazed 
that  they  confessed  to  being  witches,  and  told 
preposterous  stories  of  flying  through  the  air 
on  broomsticks,  of  taking  part  in  "devil's  sabbaths,"  and  tor- 
menting their  neighbors.  When  Lady  Phips,  wife  of  the 
governor,  fell  under  suspicion,  the  prosecutions  broke  down, 
and  there  were  no  more  executions  in  New  England,  though 
they  continued  half*  a  century  longer  in  Europe,  where  thou- 
sands of  innocent  persons  suffered  torture  and  death  —  often 
by  fire  —  for  crimes  of  witchcraft  which  no  one  could  commit. 
The  basis  and  support  of  every  colony  was  the  tillage  of  the 
70  The  so^'  an(^  ^ne  mos^  numerous  class  was  that  of  the  free 
farmer  and  farmers,  living  on  almost  self-sustaining  farms.  The 
forest  trees  furnished  building  lumber,  ship-timber,  and 
fuel ;  corn  and  other  grain,  pork,  and  beef  were  common  farm 


Witch  Pins  of 
1692. 

Preserved  in  the 
county  court  at 
Salem. 


the  laborer 


COLONIAL  LIFE  99 

products,  as  were  tobacco  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  rice 
and  (after  1747)  indigo  in  South  Carolina.  Wagons,  tools, 
and  even  furniture  were  made  on  the  spot.  Sheep  were  raised 
for  their  wool,  which  was  carded,  spun,  woven,  dyed,  and  made 
into  clothing  on  the  farm.  Clearing  new  land  caused  an  im- 
mense expenditure  of  human  labor.  The  usual  method  was 
to  girdle  the  trees  and  plant  among  the  dead  timber;  later, 
people  preferred  to  fell  the  trees  and  to  roll  the  logs  up  to- 
gether and  burn  them.  Hence  the  collection  and  export  of 
"  potash  "  and  "  pearl  ash  "  formed  an  important  industry. 

From  the  beginning  there  was  a  serious  lack  of  labor. 
Well-to-do  colonists  brought  with  them  hired  servants ;  but 
a  system  of  forced  white  labor  began  immediately.  Convicts, 
criminals,  "  indented"  (or  "  indentured  ")  servants,  prisoners  in 
the  civil  wars,  and  children,  were  sent  over  as  bond  servants. 
Other  thousands  of  respectable  men  and  families  came  over  as 
"  redemptioners,"  under  agreement  with  the  shipmaster  that 
he  might  sell  their  services  for  a  term  of  years  to  somebody  in 
America  for  money  to  pay  their  passage.  Both  classes  were 
subject  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  their  masters  and  were  often 
cruelly  treated.  Nevertheless,  many  of  them  worked  out 
their  terms  of  service,  became  prosperous  members  of  the 
community,  and  founded  families. 

Skilled  laborers  might  earn  two  shillings  (fifty  cents)  a  day 
and  their  board.  In  the  trades,  such  as  harness  making  or 
shoemaking  or  bricklaying,  it  was  common  to  have  appren- 
tices, who  were  very  harshly  treated.  The  average  wage  for 
unskilled  laborers  was  about  thirty  cents  a  day  in  our  specie 
standard ;  and  while  most  provisions  were  cheap,  imported 
articles  were  always  dear. 

There  were   slaves   in   every  colony.     Indian   slaves  were 
sullen  and  revengeful,  and  rapidly  died  off  in  confine-         71   ^ 
ment.     Negro  slaves  were  brought  chiefly  from  Guinea,  planter  and 
on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  to  the  West  Indies,  and 


100  COLONIAL   AMERICANS 

imported  thence  to  the  American  mainland.  Hard  was  their 
fate  —  sold  for  life,  transmitting  the  servile  taint  to  their 
children,  and  if  freed,  still  social  outcasts.  In  most  of  the 
northern  colonies  slaves  were  few  in  number,  but  in  Rhode 
Island,  on  the  Hudson,  and  from  Delaware  to  Carolina,  they 
were  gathered  in  large  gangs  on  plantations. 

For  a  long  time  masters  would  not  allow  their  slaves  to  be 
baptized,  because  they  had  scruples  against  holding  Christians 
in  bondage;  and  many  people  held  that  slavery  was  both 
unchristian  and  stupid.  Colonel  Byrd,  a  slave  owner,  wrote 
of  slaves,  "They  blow  up  the  pride  and  ruin  the  Industry 
of  our  White  People."  A  favorite  devotional  book,  Baxter's 
Christian  Directory,  warned  masters  that  "to  go  as  Pirates 
and  catch  up  poor  Negroes  or  people  of  another  land,  and  to 
make  them  slaves,  and  sell  them,  is  one  of  the  worst  kinds  of 
Thievery  in  the  World."  That  slavery  was  dangerous  was 
shown  by  severe  laws  against  slave  offenses,  and  by  slave 
insurrections  in  Virginia  and  in  South  Carolina,  and  a  supposed 
slave  plot  in  New  York  in  1741. 

The  slaveholding  planters  of  the  South  were  among  the 
richest  men  in  the  colonies.  Among  them  was  Colonel  William 
Fitzhugh,  a  lawyer,  a  keen  planter  and  slave  buyer,  and  a 
capable  business  man,  owner  of  fifty-four  thousand  acres  of 
land.  He  grew  flax  and  hemp,  hay  and  tobacco,  and  put  his 
Contempo-  large  profits  into  more  land  and  slaves.  He  had  a  home 
retries, 1. 306  plantation  of  a  thousand  acres,  including  a  "very  good 
dwelling  house  with  many  rooms  in  it,  four  of  the  best  of  them 
hung  &  nine  of  them  plentifully  furnished  with  all  things 
necessary  &  convenient,  &  all  houses  for  use  furnished  with 
brick  chimneys,  four  good  Cellars,  a  Dairy,  Dovecot,  Stable, 
Barn,  Henhouse,  Kitchen  &  all  other  conveniencys,"  together 
with  an  orchard,  garden,  water  gristmill  for  wheat  and  corn, 
a  stock  of  tobacco  and  good  debts.  His  income  was  estimated 
at  sixty  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  (about  $  15,000  in  money) 


COLONIAL   LIFE  101 

per  annum,  besides  the  increase  of  the  negroes.  His  tobacco 
he  shipped  direct  to  England  from  the  private  wharf  of  his 
own  plantation,  and  he  was  accustomed  to  order  fine  clothing, 
silver  plate,  books,  and  other  English  goods. 

The  richest  men  in  the  middle  and  northern  colonies  were 
the  merchants.     Since  there  were  no  bankers  and  little  sub- 
division of  business,  the  same  man  or  firm  might  build  72.  The 
ships,  own  ships,  buy  cargoes  to  export,  receive  the  return   and  the  sea 
cargoes,  and  sell  the  imports  over  the  counter.     One  of  farer 
the  most  famous  of  these  merchants  was  William  Phips,  who 
began  life  as  a  poor  boy,  with  one  ambition  —  to  be  "  owner 
of  a  Fair  Brick-House  in  the  Green-Lane  of  North  Boston.'' 
He  traded,  gathered  property,  organized  an  expedition  to  raise 
the  treasure  of  a  sunken  Spanish  vessel,  got  about  £300,000 
in  gold  and  silver,  was  knighted,  became  governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  got  his  "  fair  brick  house." 

The  colonists  were  accustomed  to  the  sea  and  got  wealth 
out  of  ships  in  three  ways.  (1)  The  splendid  forests  of 
New  England,  growing  close  to  the  water's  edge,  furnished  the 
best  shipbuilding  materials,  and  abounded  in  tall  trees  suitable 
for  masts;  hence  ships  were  regularly  built  to  sell  abroad. 
(2)  Hundreds  of  craft  were  employed  in  the  inshore  and  New- 
foundland Banks  fisheries,  and  in  trade  from  one  colony  to 
another ;  the  New  England  salt  fish  found  a  profitable  market 
in  Europe  and  in  the  West  Indies.  (3)  Other  vessels  were 
employed  in  trade  over  sea  to  England  and  elsewhere,  at  good 
freights. 

A  lively  and  profitable  commerce  went  on  all  the  time  from 
colony  to  colony,  from  the  continent  to  the  West  Indies,  and 
from  all  the  colonies  to  England  and  other  European        73   Colo_ 
countries.     The   principal    exports   were:    to   the   West       nial corn- 
Indies,  clapboards,  hoops,  shingles,  hay  and  cattle,  flour 
and  provisions,  especially  dried  fish,  and,  later,  rum ;  to  Eng- 
land, tobacco,  masts,  wood  ashes,  furs,  and,  later,  pig  iron 


102 


COLONIAL  AMERICANS 


and  indigo ;  to  other  European  countries,  dried  fish  and  naval 
stores  —  pitch,  tar,  and  turpentine. 

The  imports  from  England  were  manufactures  of  all  kinds  — 
guns  and  ammunition,  hardware,  cutlery,  clothing,  furniture, 
glass,  china,  silverware,  and  tools.  Tea,  and  later  coffee  and 
chocolate,   were   regular   imports,  often  from  Holland.     The 


Photo,  ly  E.  G.  Beveridge. 

A  Colonial  Family  — the  Grimes  Children. 
From  the  picture  in  the  Virginia  Historical  Society. 

ladies  would  have  their  "calamancoes,"  or  glossy  woolens, 
their  "  paduasoys,"  or  silks,  their  "  oznabrigs,"  or  German 
linen,  and  the  much-prized  pins.  For  the  children  were  "  pop- 
pets," or  dolls,  and  other  toys;  for  the  gentlemen,  silks  and 
velvets,  gold  lace  for  their  best  suits,  and  pipes  of  Madeira 
wine. 

For  many  years  the  colonists  freely  sent  and  received  car 


COLONIAL  LIFE  103 

goes  in  trade  with  foreign  countries;   but  the  policy  of  the 

early  navigation  acts  was  expanded  by  an  act  of  Parliament 

(1672)    laying  small  customs  duties  on  the  trade  from  74.  Ee- 

one  colony  to  another.     This  was  the  first  act  of  Parlia-       8trictioas 

,„  on  colonial 

ment  tor  taxing  the  colonies.     In  1696  a  more  thorough-  trade 

going  navigation  act  was  passed  by  Parliament  and  a  new 
colonial  council  was  created  by  King  William  III.  under 
the  name  of  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  commonly 
called  the  Lords  of  Trade,  with  the  duty  of  supervising  the 
colonies,  instructing  the  governors,  and  executing  the  naviga- 
tion acts. 

Under  these  and  later  "  Acts  of  Trade,"  the  trade  of  the 
colonies  was  restricted  :  (1)  Trade  to  and  from  England  had  to 
be  in  ships  built  and  owned  in  England  or  in  the  colonies. 
(2)  Importations  had  to  come  through  English  ports— that  is, 
through  the  hands  of  English  firms.  (3)  Exports  of  "  enumer- 
ated goods"  had  to  be  sent  only  to  English  ports,  even  if  intended 
ultimately  for  some  other  country ;  most  of  the  colonial  prod- 
ucts were  enumerated,  but  not  masts,  timber,  or  naval  stores. 
(4)  For  the  protection  of  English  manufactures  colonists  were 
forbidden  to  make  rolled  iron,  or  to  ship  certain  goods  from 
one  colony  to  another  —  for  instance,  hats.  Though  all  these 
restrictions  seem  harsh  they  indirectly  gave  a  distinct  advan- 
tage to  colonial  shipping. 

Spain,  France,  and  Holland  had  even  stricter  colonial  sys- 
tems than  the  English;  but  the  English  colonists,  sometimes 
by  stealth,  often  with  the  connivance  of  local  officials,      75.  Smug- 
had  a  very  profitable  trade  to  the  Spanish,  French,  and     ,glinS  *nd 
Dutch  West  Indies,  especially  in  dried  fish  and  lumber;         *  Trade 
and  they  brought  back  sugar,  tropical  products,  and  a  good 
surplus  of  hard  Spanish  dollars.     In  the  same  way  foreign 
vessels    often    brought    European    cargoes    into    North 
America.     Edward  Randolph,  the  revenue  detective  of    M<L.Bay', 
the  English  government,  said  in  1676 :  "  There  is  no  notice  IIL  496 


104  COLONIAL  AMERICANS 

taken  of  the  acts  of  navigation  ...  all  nations  having  full  lib- 
erty to  come  into  their  ports  and  vend  their  commodities." 

A  valuable  trade,  in  which  the  French  competed,  was  that 
with  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  interior.  In  time  of  peace,  the 
traders  circulated  through  the  frontiers  both  north  and  south 
with  their  pack  horses  loaded  with  blankets,  powder  and  ball, 
guns,  red  cloth,  hatchets,  knives,  scissors,  kettles,  paints,  look- 
ing-glasses, tobacco,  beads,  and  "brandy,  which  the  Indians 
value  above  all  other  goods  that  can  be  brought  them." 

Several  dangers  hovered  over  the  colonial  seafarer.     In  time 

of  maritime  war,  especially  after  1700,  the  cruisers  and  priva- 

76  Priva-      teers  °^  the  enemy  picked  up  many  merchant  vessels. 

teers  and       On  the  other  hand,  the  colonies  furnished  several  fleets 

to  attack  the  French;  and  their  little  merchantmen  were 

easily  converted  into  privateers  to  prey  on  the  commerce  of 

the  enemy.     It  was  an  exciting  kind  of   gambling,   for  the 

privateer  was  about  as  likely  to  be  taken  as  to  take;  but  a 

successful  cruise  brought  home  plenty. of  captured  cargoes  for 

the  owner  and  prize  money  for  the  crew. 

Pirates  abounded  in  all  the  seas,  and  especially  in  the  West 
Indies,  where  they  had  several  stations.  The  methods  were 
very  simple :  peaceful  merchantmen  often  turned  pirates  with 
or  without  the  consent  of  the  master  of  the  ship ;  the  boldest 
man  was  captain  until  some  of  his  sailors  killed  him ;  ships 
were  impartially  plundered,  the  crew  sometimes  allowed  to 
escape,  but  the  passengers  frequently  compelled  "to  walk  the 
plank."  A  pirate  ship  could  live  for  many  months  at  sea  on 
its  captures. 

After  all,  piracy  was  a  poor  barbarous  trade  of  murder  and 
rapine,  leading  to  a  bad  end.  In  1718  Colonel  Rhett  of  South 
Carolina  sailed  out  and  overwhelmed  Captain  Bonnet  and  his 
force  of  cutthroats.  In  the  same  year  Teach,  or  Blackbeard, 
a  ruffian  who  blackened  his  face  and  colored  his  beard,  was 
visited  without  invitation  by  two  cruisers  sent  out  by  Governor 


COLONIAL  LIFE  105 

Spotswood  of  Virginia,  which  brought  home  Teach's  head 
stuck  on  a  bowsprit.  Governor  Flflcher  of  New  York  gave 
commissions  to  pirates  visiting  the  city  and  sold  protection  to 
individual  pirates  at  a  hundred  dollars  apiece  ;  but  his  pirate 
friend  Captain  Kidd  was  at  last  hanged  in  chains  in  London. 


The  thing  most  important  to  remember  about  the  English 
colonists  is  that  down  to  about  1700  they  looked  upon  them- 
selves simply  as  a  body  of  English  people  living  across        77.  sum- 
the  sea;  but  that  the  new  conditions  made  their  life  very  mary 

different  from  that  of  their  brethren  across  the  water.  Land 
was  cheap,  and  therefore  there  were  no  hard  and  fast  distinc- 
tions like  those  in  England  between  the  aristocratic  land- 
owner, the  middle-class  farmer,  and  the  lower-class  laborer. 
Food  and  material  for  plain  clothing  abounded,  and  therefore 
there  was  no  grinding  poverty  like  that  of  England.  Rude 
labor  was  much  needed,  and  therefore  slaves  were  introduced 
into  the  colonies  at  the  time  when  slavery  died  out  in  England. 
Population  was  scattered,  and  the  colonists  were  distant  from 
the  intellectual  and  literary  life  of  the  home  country,  and 
hence  their  literature  was  limited  and  commonplace. 

Commercial  life  was  active  and  eager;  the  colonists  were 
good  shipbuilders,  bold  sailors,  and  successful  merchants. 
Down  to  1700  the  English  restrictions  on  trade  were  slight, 
and  after  that  time  they  were  evaded.  In  general,  the  colo- 
nies were  happy,  progressive,  and  prosperous  little  com- 
munities. 

TOPICS 

(1)     Growth    of     colonial     population    from     1607     to     1763.    Suggestive 
(2)  List  of  contemporary  writers  who  described  colonial  industries    toPics 
and    life  from  1607   to   1689.      (3)    Colonial    writers    of    verse. 

(4)  Treatment  of    supposed  witches  outside   of    New   England. 

(5)  Introduction  of  slaves  into  New  England.  (6)  Phips's  dis- 
covery of  treasure.  (7)  What  goods  were  "enumerated"? 
(8)  Why  did  the  colonists  smuggle  ?      (9)  Witchcraft  at  Salem. 


106 


COLONIAL  AMERICANS 


Search  (10)  French  Huguenots  in  the  English  colonies.      (11)  Ladies1 

topics  dress  in  the  colonies.     (12)  Life  in  some  colonial  college  before 

1750.  (13)  The  tithing  master  in  church.  (14)  Slave  life  in  Vir- 
ginia, 1619-1750.  (15)  A  pirate's  life.  (16)  Instances  of  smug- 
gling. (17)  Schools  in  the  South.  (18)  List  of  colonial  churches 
built  before  1700  and  still  standing.  (19)  Studies  and  school  books 
in  early  colonial  times.     (20)  A  New  England  Sabbath. 


Geography 

Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  114-132. 

Thwaites,  Colonies,  §§  23,  40-45,  75-80,  91-96 ;  Fisher,  Colonial 
Era,  56-61,  74,  164-176,  207-211,  313-320;  Lodge,  English  Colonies, 
chs.  ii.  iv.  vi.  viii.  x.  xiii.  xvii.  xxii.  ;  Fiske,  Old  Virginia,  II.  1- 
30,  116-130,  174-269,  308-369,  —  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies,  II. 
62-98,  222-235,  258-293,  317-356  ;  Doyle,  English  in  America,  I. 
381-395,  II.  1-10,  III.  1-8,  14-97,  323-337,  377-395  ;  Bruce,  Vir- 
ginia, I.  189-634,  II.  ;  Weeden,  New  England,  I.  47-314,  330-378, 
387-447,  II.  449-472,  492-606  ;  Stockton,  Buccaneers  and  Pirates ; 
McCrady,  South  Carolina,  I.  251-263,  341-363,  564-567,  586-623, 
II.  376-540 ;  Tyler,  American  Literature  (Colonial)  ;  Locke,  Anti- 
slavery,  9-45 ;  Wendell,  Cotton  Mather,  88-307. 

Hart,  Contemporaries,  I.  §§  85-89, 137-149,  168,  172,  II.  §§  16-18, 
25,  28,  32,  34,  35,  45,  46,  80-87,  90-108,  —  Source  Book,  §§  11,  12, 
28-35,  41,  43-47,  —  Source  Beaders,  I.  §§  14-17,  22,  24,  39,  50-54, 
66-83,  II.  1-23,  55  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Charters,  nos.  22,  23,  25, 
28,  34,  43,  50  ;  American  History  Leaflets,  no.  19 ;  Caldwell,  Sur- 
vey, 13-22,  126-132;  Samuel  Sewall,  Diary.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist. 
Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  313-315,  — Historical  Sources,  §  74. 

Longfellow,  Giles  Corey  ;  Whittier,  Mabel  Martin,  —  Prophecy 
of  Samuel  Sewall,  —  Witch  of  Wenham  ;  A.  M.  Earle,  Home  Life 
in  Colonial  Days,  —  Child  Life  in  Colonial  Days,  —  Colonial 
Dames,  —  Sabbath  in  Puritan  New  England,  —  Customs  and 
Fashions  in  Old  New  England, —  Stage-Coach  and  Tavern  Days, 
—  Two  Centuries  of  Costume,  —  Curious  Punishments ;  J.  de  F. 
Shelton,  Salt-Box  House,  1-149  ;  C.  G.  DuBois,  Martha  Corey 
(witchcraft)  ;  Hawthorne,  Scarlet  Letter,  —  Old  News,  pt.  i.  ; 
Cooper,  Satanstoe  (N.Y.);  P.  H.  Meyers,  Young  Patroon  (N.Y.); 
Marion  Harland,  His  Great  Self  (Col.  Byrd) ;  Stockton,  Kate  Bon- 
net (pirates);  Stevenson,  Treasure  Island  (pirates);  J.  H.  Ingra- 
ham,  Captain  Kyd;  J.  E.  Cooke,  Youth  of  Jefferson  (college  life). 

Mrs.  Earle' s  books  mentioned  above  ;  Sparks,  Expansion ; 
Wilson,  American  People,  I.  II.  ;  Edward  Eggleston  in  The  Cen- 
tury, 1884,  1885. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

INTERNAL   DEVELOPMENT,    1689-1740 

One  of  the  tasks  of  King  William's  government  was  to  reor- 
ganize the  colonies.     He  gave  Massachusetts  Bay  a  new  char- 
ter   (October  7,   1691)    by   which   Maine  was   retained,       78  Keor 
Plymouth  was  annexed,  and  the  governor  was  appointed     ganization 
by  the  king:   all  Christian  worship  except  the  Catholic    ^miT 
was  to  be  tolerated ;  New  Hampshire,  which  had  reunited  1729) 

itself  to  Massachusetts,  was  again  separated.  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island  went  back  to  their  former  liberal  charters,  and 
were  the  only  colonies  allowed  to  elect  their  governors 


Philadelphia  about  1740.     (From  an  old  print.) 


In  the  middle  colonies  the  proprietary  charter  of  New  York 
had  been  surrendered  (1685)  when  the  proprietor  became  king, 
and  that  of  the  combined  Jerseys  was  yielded  in  1702.  Penn 
was  deprived  of  his  proprietorship  of  Pennsylvania  for  a  year 
(1693-1694),  and  came  near  selling  his  patent  to  the  crown 
m  1712.  Delaware  was  separated  from  Pennsylvania  in  1703, 
though  the  two  still  had  the  same  governor  appointed  by  the 
proprietor. 


hart's  amer.  hist. — 7 


107 


108  COLONIAL  AMERICANS 

The  same  policy  of  harassing  the  proprietary  governments 
was  followed  in  the  South.  Maryland  in  1691  was  for  a  time 
made  a  province,  or  royal  colony,  but  the  proprietorship  was 
restored  to  the  Baltimores  later.  The  people  of  the  Carolinas 
formed  an  association  to  oppose  the  proprietors,  who  in  1729 
gave  way,  and  sold  their  claims  to  the  crown ;  and  the  British 
government  (p.  126)  thereupon  organized  the  two  separate 
colonies  of  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina. 

Between  South  Carolina  and  Florida  in  1732  was  set  up  the 
new  chartered  colony  of  Georgia,  extending  from  the  Savannah 
79.  Settle-     River  to  the  Altamaha;  and  from  the  sources  of  those 
Georgia         rivers  westward  to  the  South  Sea.       The  leader  of  the 
(1732-1752)  enterprise  was  James  Oglethorpe,  a  man  of  high  philan- 
thropic spirit,  whose  announced  purpose  was  to  form  a  Chris- 
tian  commonwealth.       The    first    settlement  ,  was    made    at 
Savannah  (1733)  ;  besides  colonists  from  England,  Protestant 
exiles  came   over  from   the  principality  of   Salzburg   in   the 
Austrian    Alps;    and   German   Moravians,  Protestant   Scotch 
Highlanders,  and  Jews  soon  moved  in. 

The  three  fundamental  principles  of  the  new  colony  were 
that  slavery  should  not  be  permitted,  that  rum  should  be 
excluded,  and  that  there  should  be  complete  religious  tolera- 
tion. The  trustees  tried  to  start  silk  culture  and  wine  mak- 
ing, but  the  crop  which  was  most  cultivated  on  the  coast  was 
rice,  for  which  the  planters  insisted  that  they  must  have 
slaves  ;  and  at  last,  in  order  to  compete  with  South  Carolina, 
the  trustees  gave  way.  Still  the  colony  was  not  prosperous ; 
and  the  trustees,  disappointed  in  both  moral  and  pecuniary 
return  for  their  investment,  surrendered  their  proprietorship 
to  the  home  government  (1752). 

The  boundaries  between  the  colonies  were  in  many  cases  in 

80  Bound-     controversy-     Virginia  and  North  Carolina  ran  their  "  Di- 

arycontro-     viding  Line"  —  the  present  boundary  —  in  1728.     The 

question,  which  branch  of  the  upper  Potomac  separated 


INTERNAL  DEVELOPMENT,    1689-1740 


109 


Virginia  from  Maryland,  was  settled  in  1746.  The  most  trou- 
blesome of  all  these  controversies  was  that  between  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Maryland  (see  p.  81) :  Baltimore's  grant  of  1632 
—  "  unto  that  part  of  Delaware  Bay  on  the  north  which  lieth 
under  the  40th  degree  of  north  latitude"  —  included  the  whole 
of  upper  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  even  the  site  of  Philadelphia ; 
but  Penn  insisted  that  his  grant  "unto  the  beginning  of  the 
fortieth  degree  of  North- 
ern Latitude  "  meant  the 
39th  parallel,  and  not  the 
40th.  Baltimore  had  the 
legal  advantage ;  Penn 
had  the  king's  favor; 
therefore  the  English  gov- 
ernment gave  a  strip  com- 
prising Philadelphia  to 
Penn,  and  the  two  pro- 
prietary families  agreed 
on  a  compromise  line, 
which  was  finally  run  by 
the  surveyors  Mason  and 
Dixon  (1763-1767).  Later 
that  line  became  also  the 
boundary  between  free  and  slaveholding  states  —  that  is,  be- 
tween the  North  and  "  Dixie's  Land." 

New  York  took  advantage  of  the  Pennsylvania  plea  that  a 
degree  of  latitude  "began"  at  the  parallel  of  the  next  lower 
degree,  to  push  the  northern  line  of  Pennsylvania  one  degree 
south.  In  New  England,  Massachusetts  had  controversies  with 
every  neighbor,  but  finally  came  down  to  substantially  her  pres- 
ent bounds.  The  region  north  of  Massachusetts  and  west  of 
the  Connecticut  River  was  claimed  by  Massachusetts,  settled 
under  grants  from  New  Hampshire,  and  then  was  assigned  to 
New  York  (1764)  by  the  British  government. 


Present  "bounds  under  l'enn's  claim 
Line  5  degrees  from  Delaware  R. 
Extreme  bounds  claimed  by  Penn. 
.Northern  bound  of  Maryland's  claim 
Eastern  bound  of  Virginia's  claim 
Southern  bound  of  Connecticut's  claim 
Present  slate  "boundaries 


\ 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Pennsylvania  Boundary 
Controversies. 


110  COLONIAL  AMERICANS 

The  colonies  pressed  their  claims  to  territory  because  they 

felt  responsible  for  their  own  future.     Nowhere  on  earth  were 

81   Growth    there  sucn  free  commonwealths ;  nowhere  was  there  so 

of  colonial     much  discussion  of  public  questions  by  the  people  at  large ; 

nowhere  was  there  such  a  "  fierce  spirit  of  liberty,"  as 

Edmund  Burke  called  it. 

The  foundation  of  this  lively  colonial  democracy  was  the 
conviction  that  Americans  were  entitled  to  inborn  rights,  which 
could  not  be  taken  away  by  either  British  or  colonial  govern- 
ments. Among  them  were :  (1)  the  personal  rights  of  Eng- 
lishmen set  forth  in  the  old  common  law,  such  as  speedy  and 
open  trial  by  jury,  and  freedom  from  arbitrary  arrest;  (2)  rights 
asserted  for  the  English  by  such  statutes  as  the  Petition  of 
Eight  (1628),  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  (1679),  and  the  Bill  of 
Rights  (1689) ;  (3)  the  right  to  make  statutes  in  local  matters 
through  town  meetings  and  other  local  assemblies. 

Voting  was  in  every  colony  restricted  to  owners  of  real 
estate,  or  payers  of  considerable  personal  taxes  —  that  is,  to 
about  one  half  or  one  third  of  the  adult  free  men.  There 
were  no  political  parties  in  the  modern  sense :  the  usual  divi- 
sion was  between  the  friends  of  the  governor  and  the  opposition. 
In  all  the  colonies  the  local  dignitaries  —  ministers  in  New  Eng- 
land, merchants  in  the  middle  colonies,  planters  in  the  South  — 
controlled  their  neighbors'  votes ;  and  the  public  honors  fell  to 
a  small  number  of  families  of  social  distinction. 

The  colonial  democracies  were  organized  in  one  or  another 

of  three  official  forms :  (1)    under  charters,  in  the  three  colo- 

82.  Prin-       nies  of  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut; 

ofPcoTonial      (2)  im&er  orders  and  grants  of  the  proprietors,  holders  of 

government  patents,  in  the  three  colonies  of  Pennsylvania,  Delaware, 

and  Maryland ;  (3)  under  orders  and  instructions  to  governors, 

issued  by  the  home  government   in  the   seven  "provinces" 

of  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Virginia,  North 

Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  (after  1752)  Georgia. 


INTERNAL  DEVELOPMENT,    1689-1740  HI 

All  these  groups  of  colonies  had  governments  divided  into 
three  departments:  — 

(1)  The  governors  of  two  of  the  charter  colonies  were  elect- 
ive; in  the  three  proprietary  colonies  they  were  sent  out  by 
the  proprietors  j  in  the  eight  other  colonies  they  were  appointed 
by  the  crown.  They  were  paid  under  acts  of  the  assemblies, 
and  hence  had  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  their  people. 
Associated  with  the  governor  was  a  small  council  appointed 
by  the  crown  or  governor,  which  was  in  most  colonies  both 
the  highest  court  and  the  upper  house  of  the  legislature. 

(2)  The  assembly  (lower  house  of  the  legislature)  was  elected 
from  counties  or  towns,  as  units  of  representation.  In  conjunc- 
tion with  the  governor  and  council,  it  made  laws,  and  had  the 
rigfht  of  voting  taxes ;  and  it  appointed  certain  colonial  execu- 
tive officers  and  audited  the  accounts. 

(3)  In  the  colonial  courts  the  judges  were  appointed  by  the 
governor  or  the  crown,  except  in  Rhode  Island  and  Connecti- 
cut. This  was  the  weakest  department  of  the  colonial  govern- 
ments;  for  the  judges  had  no  authority  to  hold  that  a  colonial 
statute  was  invalid.  But  in  all  criminal  and  most  civil  cases 
juries  were  used,  and  justice  was  speedy  and  cheap. 

^  The  freedom  of  action   of  the  colonial   governments  was 
limited  in  several  ways:  (1)  The  colonists  acknowledged  the 
personal  sovereignty  of  the  king  and  the  right  of  Parlia-  o,  w    ,  . 
ment  to  legislate  for  all  parts  of  the  British  Empire  in    tions  on  co- 
matters  of  trade;  and  in  every  war  the  enemies  of  En£-    ^l^r 

i       _  .  o  ei  .amen  bS 

land  were  the  enemies  of  the  colonies.  (2)  The  general  con- 
duct of  the  colonies  was  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the 
home  government,  exercised  by  instructions  sent  out  to  the 
appointed  governors;  these  included  the  obligation  to  call 
assemblies,  but  also  forbade  the  governor  to  sign  certain  kinds 
of  bills.  Most  colonies  had  in  London  an  agent  to  represent 
the  colony  there  and  watch  its  interests.  (3)  The  legislature 
could  be  dissolved  by  the  governor,  and  its  acts  (except  in 


112  COLONIAL  AMERICANS 

Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut)  were  subject  to  his  veto ;  and 
the  home  government  or  proprietor  could  disallow  a  colonial 
act  even  if  the  governor  had  signed  it.  (4)  Appeal  lay  from 
the  colonial  courts  to  the  Privy  Council  in  England. 

The  colonial  governments  had  the  power  to  set  up  local  gov- 
ernments of  various  kinds,  and  to  alter  or  abolish  them. 
84.  Local  W  T^e  C0linty  system,  most  distinct  in  the  southern 

govern-         colonies,  was  an  attempt  to  reproduce  the  English  county 

ments 

government;  there  was  a  board  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor, and  called  the  court  of  quarter  sessions,  or  county  court, 
which  laid  local  taxes  and  made  local  ordinances,  and,  as  a  court, 
administered  a  crude  and  offhand  justice  for  petty  offenses. 

(2)  In  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  both  counties  and  towns 
were  established:  in  Pennsylvania,  the  county  officials  were 
chosen  as  such  by  direct  election;  in  New  York  the  regular 
"  supervisor "  elected  by  each  town  or  township  was  also  a 
member  of  the  county  board.  Both  these  types  are  now  very 
common  in  the  northwestern  states. 

(3)  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey  set  up  a  few 
city  and  borough  governments. 

(4)  The  smallest  unit  of  local  government  in  England,  at  the 
time  of  colonization,  was  the  parish,  often  called  a  town.  Some 
parishes  were  governed  by  a  "  select  vestry,"  filling  its  own 
vacancies ;  others  by  a  parish  meeting  of  the  taxpayers.  Both 
these  types  were  brought  over  to  America:  the  select  vestry 
was  introduced  into  the  so-called  parishes  in  the  South  (but 
left  no  imprint  on  the  government  of  the  country  and  has  long 
since  ceased  to  exist);  while  the  taxpayers'  meeting  was 
adopted  for  the  villages  (towns)  of  New  England,  and  de- 
veloped into  the  town  meeting. 

Once  a  year,  and  at  other  times  if  necessary,  all  the  voters 
85  Colo-  °^  a  -^ew  ^ngland  town  were  summoned  to  a  public  meet- 
nial  town  ing,  in  which  most  of  the  town  business  was  performed. 
mee     **       Town  officers  were  chosen  for  the  year,  especially  the 


INTERNAL  DEVELOPMENT,   1689-1740 


113 


"  townsmen,"  or  selectmen  —  a  board  of  executive  officers  who 
sat  from  time  to  time  during  the  year.  Other  officers  were 
the  town  clerk,  town  treasurer,  and  a  bewildering  list  of  petty 
officers,  such  as  constables,  surveyors  of  the  highway,  over- 
seers  of  the  poor,  pound 
keepers,  and  hog  reeves. 

The  main  business  of 
the  town  meeting,  how- 
ever, was  to  legislate  for 
the  town,  and  it  was  a 
place  for  vigorous  discus- 
sion, and  for  the  develop- 
ment of  parliamentary  law 
and  political  patience  \  and 
in  troubled  times  it  was 
the  center  of  protest,  as 
when  the  Cambridge  town 
meeting  in  the  Stamp  Act 
days  instructed  its  repre- 
sentatives that  "they  use  their  utmost  endeavours,  that  the 
same  may  be  repealed ;  that  this  vote  may  be  recorded  in  the 
Town  Book,  that  the  children  yet  unborn  may  see  the  desires 
that  their  ancestors  had  for  their  freedom  and  happiness." 

Though  officially  quite  distinct  from  one  another,  and  con- 
nected only  by  common  adherence  to  the  British  government, 
the  colonies  had  many  relations  with  one  another.     It     86.  Germs 
was  easy  for  an  Englishman  or  a  foreigner  to  become  union 

a  citizen  of  a  colony,  or  to  move  from  one  to  another,  (1690-1750) 
for  every  colony  was  Protestant,  every  colony  had  the  same 
system  of  laws,  every  colony  was  English-speaking. 

In  the  period  from  1690  to  1750  several  intercolonial  meet- 
ings were  held  to  discuss  Indian  relations  and  other  matters 
of  common  interest.  William  Penn  even  proposed  (1696)  an 
annual  meeting  of  deputies  of  all  the  provinces,  to  discuss 


Boston  Town  House,  1658. 


114 


COLONIAL  AMERICANS 


intercolonial  questions  and  common  defense;  but  distance, 
local  jealousies,  and  the  lack  of  a  definite  common  grievance, 
for  near  a  century  kept  the  colonies  from  uniting. 


Deck  Plans  of  a  Slaver. 
Showing  stowage  of  nearly  500  persons  in  a  300-ton  ship ;  from  a  broadside. 

Several  new  branches  of  trade  developed  after  1700,  espe- 
cially the  African  slave  trade.     Under  the  treaty  of  Utrecht 
87.  Devel-      (1713)  an  English  company,  in  which  Queen  Anne  was 
opment  of      Qne  ^  ^e  partners,  got  the  Asiento,  or  privilege  of  car- 
commerce      rying  slaves  to  the   Spanish  West  Indies.      The  New 
Englanders  were  quick  to  work  up  a  profitable  slave  trade  for 
themselves.     Hardly  anywhere  was  there  protest  against  the 
trade  or  its  shocking  cruelties  ;   and  whenever  the  legislatures 
of  the  colonies  tried  to  tax  it  for  revenue,  or  for  any  other 
reason,  the  bills  were  vetoed  in  England  because  the  trade  was 
so  profitable  to  the  English  merchant. 

Eventually  so  many  slaves  were  brought  that  the  people 
began  to  be  frightened,  and  South  Carolina  several  times  tried 
to  lay  duties  on  their  importation.  The  slave  traffic  was  con- 
nected with  the  manufacture  of  rum,   which   was  carried  to 


INTERNAL   DEVELOPMENT,    1G89-1740  115 

Africa  to  be  exchanged  for  slaves  ;  part  of  the  slaves  were 
carried  to  the  West  Indies  on  the  so-called  Middle  Passage 
and  exchanged  for  molasses ;  and  the  molasses  and  the  profits 
came  home  to  New  England  to  furnish  raw  material  for  more 
rum.  In  1733  this  business  was  much  affected  by  the  Molasses 
Act  passed  by  Parliament  to  protect  the  product  of  the  British 
West  Indies,  by  prohibiting  the  colonists  from  using  molasses 
or  sugar  from  the  French  or  Spanish  West  Indies. 

Colonial  trade  was  always  disturbed  because  there  was  no 
uniform  or  steady  standard  of  currency.     Alongside  the  Eng- 
lish sterling  money  was  a  medley  of  coins  of  all  nations,         88.  Cur- 
especially  the  Spanish  "piece  of  eight,"  or  dollar.     In      renCpa™r 
Virginia  and  Maryland  tobacco  was  a  legal   currency,  money 

even  for  taxes.  There  and  elsewhere  barter  was  very  com- 
mon, and  people  bought  goods  for  "money"  (cash),  "pay" 
(produce),  or  "  pay  as  money  "  (credit  payable  in  produce). 

Most  of  the  colonies  followed  the  bad  example  of  Massa- 
chusetts in  putting  out  paper  notes  issued  to  secure  a  tempo- 
rary public  loan,  or  lent  by  the  colony  to  private  individuals 
on  the  security  of  their  lands,  or  lent  by  private  "  loan  banks  " 
on  mortgages  to  the  stockholders.  To  vote  such  paper  issues 
was  so  easy  that  they  ran  up  in  amount  and  ran  down  in 
purchasing  power.  There  came  a  time  when  a  Khode  Island 
ten-pound  note  would  not  pass  for  more  than  eight  shillings, 
or  one  twenty-fifth  of  its  face,  measured  in  gold  and  silver. 
The  issue  of  any  form  of  colonial  paper  money  was  discour- 
aged by  the  home  government;  and  in  1751  was  prohibited 
by  Parliament,  except  in  emergencies. 

The  experiments  in  paper  money  were  an  evidence  of  a  will- 
ingness to  try  something  new,  which  extended  even  to  the- 
ology.   The  Puritan  theocracy  steadily  lost  ground  during       89.  Intel- 
the  eighteenth  century,  although  a  new  leader  of  thought        religious 
in  New  England,  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  worked  out  an     awakening 
elaborate  system  of  theology  based  on  the  "  total  depravity  " 


116  COLONIAL    AMERICANS 

of  human  nature.  He  taught  that  the  blessed  in  Heaven  would 
be  made  happier  by  seeing  the  torments  of  the  lost;  yet  he 
was  an  affectionate  parent,  a  thrifty  business  man,  and  an 
acute  reasoner. 

Against  this  harsh  theology  and  appeal  to  the  fears  of  man- 
kind, came  a  movement  of  protest  which  began  in  the  attempt 
of  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  devoted  clergymen  of  the 
Church  of  England,  to  restore  vital  religion  to  that  church. 
In  their  sermons,  doctrinal  books,  and  hymns,  they  dwelt  on 
the  love  of  the  Savior,  and  the  great  desire  of  God  that  His 
children  should  be  reconciled  to  Him.  In  1736  both  brothers, 
followed  by  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  came  out  for  a  time  to 
Georgia,  and  attempted  to  convert  the  natives  and  to  rouse  the 
white  people.  The  Wesley  movement  ended  in  the  founding 
of  the  Wesleyan  or  Methodist  Church  in  England.  In  1740 
Whitefield  came  to  New  England,  and  by  his  powerful  preach- 
ing brought  about  "  The  Great  Awakening,"  the  first  general 
revival  of  religion  in  America. 

The  New  England  Congregationalists  under  this  pressure 
divided  into  "  Old  Lights  "  and  "  New  Lights,"  the  latter  feel- 
ing that  genuine  conversion  must  show  itself  by  tears,  groans, 
and  convulsions,  popularly  called  "  the  jerks."  The  outcome 
of  the  movement  was  the  establishment  of  the  Methodist 
Church  in  America  and  a  great  strengthening  of  the  Baptists, 
while  the  Congregational,  Presbyterian,  and  Episcopal  churches 
throughout  the  colonies  were  directly  or  indirectly  influenced 
to  make  religion  less  a  matter  of  observance  and  dogma  and 
more  a  matter  of  personal  service. 

A  new  intellectual  interest  was  shown  by  the  publication  of 
several  excellent  local  histories,  and  by  the  foundation,  between 
174.6  and  1769,  of  five  new  colleges :  New  Jersey  at  Princeton ; 
Kings,  now  Columbia;  Philadelphia,  founded  by  Franklin, 
and  later  reorganized  as  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  j 
Jthode  Island,  now  J>rown ;  and  Dartmouth. 


INTERNAL   DEVELOPMENT,    1G89-1740 


117 


The  most  distinctly  intellectual  man  of  this  period,  and  also 
the  greatest  political  leader,  was  Benjamin  Franklin,  who  was 
born  in  Boston  in  1706,  and  settled  in  Philadelphia  in        9Q  fie 
1723.     Franklin  was  a  good  printer,  and  the  first  Ameri-  jamhi" 

can  journalist  of  any  continental  reputation.     Through-       Franklin 
out  his  life  he  was  interested  in  education,  and  he  rendered  great 
service   to   science    by 
discovering  that  light- 
ning is  the  same  thing 
as    the    discharge    of 
electricity  produced  by 
friction.     He  was  also 
the  inventor  of  the  use- 
ful  Franklin   stove,  a 
kind  of  little  movable 
fireplace.     He  was  ap- 
pointed   deputy    post- 
master-general for  the 
colonies   in   1753    and 
greatly   improved    the 
service.  In  1757  Frank- 
lin was  sent  to  England 
as  agent  of  the  colony 
of   Pennsylvania,   and 
remained     there     five 
years.  Gradually  other 

colonies  noticed  his  influence  with  British  statesmen  and  gave 
him  a  similar  commission.  He  was  a  keen  and  caustic  writer, 
and  his  satires  on  social  and  political  matters,  such  as  his  How 
a  Great  Empire  may  become  Small,  had  powerful  effect;  his 
Poor  Richard's  Almanac  was  an  annual,  abounding  in  shrewd 
common-sense  observations,  widely  read  in  the  colonies. 

The  chief  merit  of  Franklin  was  that  his  great  mind  saw 
how  much   the   colonies   could   do    if   they   would   only   act 


Benjamin  Franklin,  about  1780. 
From  a  portrait  attributed  to  Greuze. 


118  COLONIAL  AMERICANS 

together ;  he  showed  a  willingness,  very  uncommon  in  the 
colonies,  to  sink  local  differences  and  interests  for  the  common 
good;  and  in  England  he  impressed  the  leading  men  with 
respect  for  himself  and  for  the  colonies  which  he  represented, 
Franklin  personified  the  colonist  of  the  second  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  who  had  ceased  to  look  upon  himself  as 
an  Englishman  living  over  seas,  but  was  an  American,  with 
no  purpose  or  desire  but  to  remain  a  colonist. 


The  characteristic  of  the  half  century  from  1690  to  1740  is 
the  quiet  and  sound  development  of  the  colonies,  and  their 
91.  Sum-       experience   of    self-government.      The   colonial   govern- 
marv  ments   were   in   a   sense   new  creations,   for   there  was 

nothing  like  them  in  England.  The  governors  had  large  nom- 
inal powers,  but  were  hedged  about  by  the  assemblies  and  by 
their  instructions ;  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  were  in  all 
matters  except  foreign  trade  and  foreign  war  practically  inde- 
pendent little  republics,  and  the  other  colonies  were  not  much 
behind  them.  By  force  of  circumstances,  the  English  types 
of  parish  meetings  and  county  courts  developed  in  America 
into  vigorous  little  local  governments,  which  did  much  to  edu- 
cate the  people  in  the  conduct  of  their  own  affairs. 

The  colonists  made  money  by  trade  and  struck  off  a  poor 
and  depreciating  currency  with  their  printing  presses.  A  freer 
spirit  prevailed  in  religion,  and  it  is  at  this  time  that  religious 
toleration  begins  to  be  general  throughout  the  colonies.  Above 
all,  such  men  as  Franklin  stood  for  a  sense  of  common  interest 
and  responsibility  which  might  accustom  people  to  think  of 
themselves,  from  north  to  south,  as  essentially  one  people. 

TOPICS 

Suggestive  (1)  How  did  Massachusetts  get  the  charter  of  1691  ?     (2)  Why 

topics  was  New  York  transferred  by  the  proprietor  to  the  crown  ?    New 

Jersey  ?  the  Carolinas  ?      (3)  Notable  Germans  in  America  before 

1750.     (4)  Was  Penn  entitled  by  his  charter  to  the  site  of  Phila- 


INTERNAL   DEVELOPMENT,    1089-1740 


119 


delphia  ?  (5)  Describe  the  public  services  of  some  governor  of  a 
colony.  (0)  For  any  one  colony  compare  its  geographic  extent  in 
1050  with  its  extent  in  1090.  (7)  Make  a  list  of  meetings  of 
colonial  governors,  1040-1703.  (8)  How  could  the  English  colo- 
nists trade  with  the  Spanish  West  Indies  ?  (9)  Why  was  the 
British  government  opposed  to  paper  money  ?  (10)  Spotswood's 
explorations  west  of  the  mountains. 

(11)  The  Wesleys  in  America.  (12)  Whitefield's  preaching. 
(13)  Some  of  Franklin's  witty  sayings.  (14)  Claims  by  the 
colonists  to  the  rights  of  Englishmen,  1089-1750.  (15)  Origin 
of  the  "caucus."  (10)  A  session  of  a  colonial  legislature. 
.'17)  Oddities  of  town  meetings.  (18)  Conduct  of  the  slave 
trade.  (19)  Life  at  Princeton  College.  (20)  Causes  of  dis- 
putes with  colonial  governors.  (21)  Some  notable  colonial 
agents.  (22)  Instances  of  acts  of  colonial  legislatures  vetoed  by 
governors. 

REFERENCES 


Search 
topics 


Thwaites,  Colonies,  SS  24-20,  40,  81,97,  110-130;  Fisher,  Colo-   Secondary 

fLirfrhoritifts 

nial  Era,  210-230,  241-280,  292-312  ;  Lodge,  English  Colonies, 
chs.  i.  iii.  v.  vii.  ix.  xii.  xiv.  xviii.-xxi.  passim  ;  Greene,  Provin- 
cial America, —  Colonial  Governor;  Fiske,  Old  Virginia,  II.  30- 
44,  102-173,  289-308,  333-337,  370-400,  —  Dutch  and  Quaker 
Colonies,  II.  209-257,  294-317,  —  New  France  and  New  England, 
197-232  ;  Doyle,  English  in  America,  I.  200-274,  323-327,  343-350, 
303-380,  III.  8-14,  273-370,  395-404  ;  Gay,  Bryant's  History,  IL 
395-400,  III.  25-191,  222-253  ;  Weeden,  New  England,  I.  314-330, 
379-387,  II.  473-492,  007-713 ;  Channing,  Town  and  County 
Government;  Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§  3-11 ;  Hart,  Practical 
Essays,  133-101  ;  Mereness,  Maryland. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  27,  42,  48-52, —  Contemporaries,  I.  §§  104,  Sources 
120,  II.  §§  19-24,  20,  29-31,  33,  30,  38-44,  47-79,  88,  89,  —  Source 
Beaders,  I.  §§  13,  18,  III.  71  :  American  History  Leaflets,  no.  14  ; 
Hill,  Liberty  Documents,  ch.  xi. ;  Caldwell,  Survey,  32-39  ;  Frank- 
lin, Autobiography ;  John  Woolman,  Journal.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist, 
Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  301,  300-308,  313-315,  —  Historical 
Sources,  §  73. 

Hawthorne,  Grandfather's  Chair,  pt.  i.  chs.  x.  xi.,  pt.  ir.  chs. 
l.-vi. ;  Cooper,  Deerslayer  (N.Y.)  ;  J.  K.  Paulding,  Dutchman's 
Fireside  (N.Y.)  ;  Mary  Johnston,  Audrey  (Va.)  ;  W.  A.  Caruthers, 
Knights  of  the  Horseshoe  (Va.)  ;  J.  E.  Cooke,  Stories  of  the 
Old  Dominion,  82-109  ;   Simms,  Yemassee  (S.  C.  Indians). 

Winsor,  America,  V. ;  Wilson,  American  People,  I.  II.  Pictures 


Illustrative 
works 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

WARS   WITH  THE   FRENCH  (1689-1763) 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  King  William  III.  was  to  declare 

war  on  France  in  1689 ;  and  during  the  next  three  quarters  of 

92.  Rivalry  a  century  four  fierce  struggles  by  sea  and  land  expressed 

of  France       the    national    hostility   between    England    and    France. 
and  Eng- 
land The  most  notable  thing  in  these  wars  is  the  rise  of  the 

(1689-1697)  British  "  sea  power."  To  protect  her  own  colonies, 
scattered  all  over  the  globe,  and  to  attack  the  colonies  of  France 
and  Spain,  England  developed  the  best  navy  of  the  time.  The 
unit  for  naval  fights  was  a  fleet  of  the  "  wooden  walls  of  Eng- 
land," the  great  three-decker  "  ships  of  the  line "  of  1000  to 
2000  tons'  burden,  carrying  in  two  or  three  tiers  as  many  as  120 
guns.  In  time  of  war,  often  in  times  of  peace,  merchantmen 
sailed  in  "  convoys,"  great  fleets  under  protection  of  vessels  of 
war,  to  keep  off  the  enemy's  cruisers  and  privateers. 

In  each  of  these  wars  the  colonists  fought  for  England  by 
land  and  sea.  Their  first  experience  of  invasion  was  from  a 
French  expedition,  composed  partly  of  Indians,  which  in  1690 
struck  the  town  of  Schenectady,  eighteen  miles  west  of  Albany, 
surprised  it  at  midnight,  sacked  and  burned  its  eighty  houses, 
killed  sixty  people,  and  took  thirty  prisoners.  In  successive 
years  half  a  dozen  towns  near  the  Atlantic  coast  were  raided  in 
the  same  ruthless  fashion.  The  English  struck  one  good  return 
blow  in  1690,  when,  under  the  leadership  of  Sir  William 
Phips  of  Massachusetts,  they  captured  Port  Royal  (now  Annap- 
olis, Nova  Scotia).  After  eight  years  of  what  was  called  in 
America  "  King  William's  War,"  each  power  agreed  by  the  peace 
of  Eyswick,  in  1697,  to  restore  its  conquests  to  the  other. 

122 


WARS   WITH  THE   FRENCH 


123 


Indians 


The  French  attack  on  the  frontier  led  the  English  colonies  to 
make  friends  with  the  ferocious  Iroquois.     The  Five  Nations 
were  enlarged  into  the  "  Six  Nations  "  by  the  coming  of  a         93   Th 
tribe  of  their  blood  brethren,  the  Tuscaroras  (1713).    Then  border 

five  years  later  the  home  government  appointed  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson  its  agent  to  the  Six  Nations.  He  lived  among 
them  in  a  great  place  called  Johnson  Hall,  where  he  held  open 
house  for  their  benefit.  He  was  an  adept  at  those  long-drawn 
councils  which  the  Indians  so  much  loved;  he  knew  how  to 
give  belts  of  wampum  "  to  dry  up  their  tears,"  how  metaphori- 
cally "  to  clear  the  road  grown  up  with  weeds,"  and  to  set  up 
"the  fine  shady  trees  almost  blown  down  by  the  northerly 
winds."  This  palaver,  accompanied  with  plenty  of  food  and 
rum,  was  very  effective  in  preventing  the  French  north  wind 
from  blowing  down  the  English  influence  among  the  Iroquois. 

In  the  South,  the  growth  of  the 
Carolinas  led  to  bloody  wars  with 
the  Tuscarora  and  Yamassee  Indians 
from  1712  to  1716.  In  1730  the  Cher- 
okees  made  treaties,  by  which  they 
recognized  the  king  of  Great  Britain 
(p.  126)  as  their  Father,  and  thus  pro- 
vided a  point  of  opposition  to  the 
French  in  the  Southwest ;  and  the  set- 
tlement of  Georgia  soon  brought  the 
whites  into  close  contact  with  the  Cher- 
okees,  Creeks,  and  other  strong  inte- 
rior tribes. 

The  colonial  wars  were  made  more 
terrible  by  the   Indian   allies   of  the 

French,  who  captured  prisoners  to  make  slaves  of  them,  or  to 
hold  them  for  a  ransom.  Fearful  was  the  hasty  march  north- 
ward after  a  raid;  little  children  were  brained  against  the 
trees,  because  too  troublesome  to  carry ;  the  women  who  fainted 


Indian  Art. 

Pipe,  lacrosse  stick,  and 
pouch,  procured  from 
western  Indians. 


124  COLONIAL   AMERICANS 

with  fatigue  were  tomahawked  and  scalped  to  save  the  trouble 
of  carrying  them  along.  In  one  such  foray  (1691)  Hannah 
Dustin  of  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  was  made  prisoner.  She 
had  the  heroism,  with  a  nurse  and  a  white  boy,  to  surprise  her 
captors,  and  the  barbarity  to  kill  not  only  two  Indian  men 
but  three  women  and  live  children ;  by  this  means  she  escaped 
and  reached  home  again  to  tell  the  tale. 

During  the  twenty -five  years  after  La  Salle's  exploration  of 

the  Mississippi,  the  French  made  various  permanent  settlements 

94.  Settle-     in  the  new  country,  especially  St.  Joseph  near  the  head 

Lo^siana      of  Lake   MicniSan  (1681),  Kaskaskia  (1695),  Cahokia 

(16S1-1721)   (1701)  near  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and  Detroit  on 

the   waterway  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Huron  (1701)  j  and 

later  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash  River  (about  1732). 

For  the  lower  Mississippi  country  three  nations  reached  out 
at  once:  (1)  Spain  settled  Pensacola  as  a  basis  for  colonies 
to  be  planted  farther  west;   (2)  the  French  interrupted  this 
plan  by  sending  a  fleet  of  five  vessels  with  ISO  colonists,  under 
the  Sieur  d'Iberville,  to  take  possession  of  the  coast  of  Louisi- 
ana in  1699 ;  (3)  the  English  also  sent  out  a  ship,  which  was 
driven  back   (1699)   by   the   French   from   the   bend   of   the 
Mississippi  just  below  New  Orleans,  still  called  English  Turn. 
After  stopping  first  at  Dauphin  Island,  and  then  longer  at 
Biloxi  on  the  Gulf  coast,  D'Iberville  founded  Mobile  (1702). 
The  purposes  of  this  Louisiana  colony  were  to  control  the  in- 
terior Indians,  to  enrich  the  French  with  their  furs,  and  to 
fight  the  English.     Notwithstanding  the  introduction  of  negro 
slaves  Louisiana  grew  very  slowly,  for  like  the  English  coast 
colonies  it  suffered  from  disease  and  Indian  enemies ;  so  that 
after  ten  years  it  contained  only  four  hundred  Europeans. 
In  1712  a  rich  banker,  Anthony  Crozat,  got  from  the  king  of 
Gannett,        France  a  grant  giving  him  a  monopoly  of  trade  in  "  all 
19  '   the   countries,   territories,   lakes   within   land,   and   the 

rivers  which  fall  directly  or  indirectly  into  the  river  St.  Louis 


WARS  WITH   THE  FRENCH  125 

heretofore  called  the  Mississippi."  Crozat  did  little  except 
to  build  posts  in  what  is  now  upper  Alabama  and  western 
Georgia,  and  after  five  years  gave  up  his  privileges.  To  them 
succeeded  John  Law  and  his  vigorous  Company  of  the  West. 
The  Illinois  country  was  annexed  to  Louisiana ;  Fort  Chartres 
was  built  on  the  Mississippi  above  the  Ohio,  and  another  fort 
at  Natchitoches  on  the  Red  River;  a  new  political  and  com- 
mercial center  for  the  colony  was  created  in  the  town  of  New 
Orleans,  founded  in  1718  on  a  site  chosen  because  the  water 
front  was  elevated  a  few  feet  above  the  river.  Law  brought 
in  German  emigrants  as  well  as  French,  and  when  his  company 
went  bankrupt  a  few  years  later  7000  persons  had  gathered  in 
Louisiana. 

While  Louisiana  was  developing,  England  engaged  in  "  Queen 
Anne's  War"  (1701-1713)  to  prevent  a  union  of  the  French 
and  Spanish  European  and  colonial  empires  under  the  95    Re_ 

grandson  of  Louis  XIV.     In  this  war  the  Spaniards  and        newal  of 
°  intercolo- 

Carolinians  attacked  each  others  frontier  towns ;   espe-        niai  war 

cially   St.  Augustine   and   Charleston.       In   the   North   (1701-1713) 

the   French  incited  the   Indians   to   attack  the   Connecticut 

River  town  of  Deerfield  (1704) ;  most  of  the  inhabitants  were 

killed  or  swept  away,  but  the  affair  left  deep  resentment  at 

a  warfare  which  aimed  only  at  destruction,  with  no  hope  of 

conquest.     The   New   Englanders   retaliated   with   the   same 

kind  of  warfare   on  the  French  villages.     Both  Frenchmen 

and  Englishmen  often  scalped  their  defeated  enemies ;  and  in 

many  cases  white  prisoners  were  turned  over  to  Indian  allies 

to  give  the  Indians  their  favorite  amusement  of  burning  them 

at  the  stake.     Toward  the  end  of  the  war  the  English  colonists 

captured  Port   Royal   and   again   attacked  Quebec.      By  the 

treaty  of  Utrecht,  which  ended  the  war  in  1713,  the  French 

gave  up  "all  Nova  Scotia  formerly  called  Acadia,"  and  all 

claims  to  Newfoundland  and  Hudson  Bay.     This  was  the  first 

time  that  the  English  by  actual  conquest  extended  their  Ameri- 


126  COLONIAL   AMERICANS 

can  boundaries  at  the  expense  of  the  French,  and  it  was  the 
beginning  of  the  downfall  of  the  French  empire  in  America. 

The  period  of  this  war  was  one  of  consolidation  in  England. 
For  a  century  England  and  Scotland  had  been  sister  kingdoms, 
having  one  sovereign  but  two  Parliaments ;  but  in  1707,  by  the 
Act  of  Union,  they  were  united  into  the  single  kingdom  of 
Great  Britain,  with  a  single  British  Parliament.  Ireland,  how- 
ever, remained  a  separate  kingdom,  with  a  separate  Parliament, 
till  1801.  After  1707  the  Scots  were  on  the  same  footing  as 
the  English  in  colonial  trade.  The  union  was  expressed  in  a 
new  British  flag  having  the  crosses  of  St.  George  and  St. 
Andrew  combined.  In  1714,  on  the  death  of  Queen  Anne,  the 
succession  passed  to  the  Elector  of  Hanover,  George  I. ;  in 
1727  to  his  son  George  II. 

Though  the  French  made  no  proper  effort  to  send  out  large 

bodies  of  colonists  to  Canada,  they  strongly  fortified  the  town 

96.  Devel-     ana*  harbor  of  Louisburg  on  the  island  of  Cape  Breton, 

opment  of      as  a  center  for  their  naval  power  in  the  north  Atlantic : 

Canada  and 

Louisiana      they  built  forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  Biver,  and 

(1721-1748)  at  Crown  Point  on  Lake  Champlain;  and  they  began 
to  send  explorers  and  traders  into  the  Ohio  River  country. 
The  next  step  was  to  plan  a  chain  of  posts  west  of  the  Appa- 
lachian Mountains  between  Canada  and  Louisiana. 

This  plan  was  postponed  by  a  war  called  in  American  his- 
tory "  King  George's  War,"  which  broke  out  in  1739  between 
Great  Britain  and  Spain,  and  in  1744  between  Great  Britain 
and  France.  Oglethorpe  raised  a  force  of  Georgians  which 
attacked  the  Spanish  at  St.  Augustine;  and  thousands  of 
English  colonists  were  sacrificed  in  vain  attacks  on  Cuba  and 
on  the  Spanish  stronghold  of  Carthagena  in  South  America 
(1741).  Four  thousand  New  Englanders,  however,  under 
the  command  of  William  Pepperell,  a  brave  but  untrained 
militia  general,  joined  a  small  British  fleet,  and  in  sixteen 
days'  siege   brought   Louisburg  to  surrender  in  1745.     The 


WARS   WITH  THE   FRENCH  127 

war  was  ended  in  1748  by  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  by 
which  conquests  were  mutually  restored  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.     The  French  reoccupied  Louisburg  and  refortified  it. 

Against  the  French  claim  to  the  whole  eastern  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  British  government  set  itself   definitely,  in 
1749,  by  making  royal  grants  to  the  Ohio  Company  for         97.  The 
land  on  the  Ohio  River,  in  what  is  now  western  Pennsyl-         thTohio 
vania  and  West  Virginia.     To  forestall  a  settlement  there,  (1749-1754) 
Celoron  de  Bienville  was  sent  out  by  the  French.     He  went 
down  the  Ohio  in  1749  and  near  the  mouths  of  the  tributaries 
buried  lead  plates,  setting  forth  that  he  had  taken  possession 
of  the  river.     To  confront  the  French,  Virginia,  which  claimed 
the  upper  Ohio,  founded  a  trading  post  on  the  Miami,  about 
twenty  miles  above  its  mouth.     The  French  broke  it  up  (1752) 
and,  reviving  their  plan  of  a  chain  of  posts  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  built  a  fort  at  Presque  Isle 
(Erie),  and  another,  Fort  Le  Boeuf,  twenty  miles  farther  south. 

It  became  evident  that  war  was  at  hand.  Under  directions 
from  the  king,  Governor  Dinwiddie  of  Virginia,  in  October, 
1753,  sent  to  warn  the  French  to  withdraw.  His  messenger, 
George  Washington  (aged  21),  with  one  companion  made  his 
way  amid  threatening  Indians  and  the  dangers  of  the  wilder- 
ness, and  delivered  his  message  at  Fort  Le  Bceuf.  He  all 
but  lost  his  life  in  the  icy  waters  of  the  Allegheny  River,  but 
returned  to  report  that  the  French  would  not  yield.  Instead, 
the  French  drove  a  little  force  of  Virginians  out  of  the  stra- 
tegic point  at  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio  (now  Pittsburg)  and  built 
Fort  Duquesne  on  the  coveted  spot.  George  Washington,  in 
command  of  a  little  Virginian  force,  thereupon  collided  with 
a  body  of  threatening  French  near  Great  Meadows  (May  28, 
1754),  and  by  his  orders  was  fired  the  first  shot  in  a  great  war. 

At  the  breaking  out  of   this  fourth  intercolonial  struggle, 
commonly  called  the  French  and  Indian  WTar,  the  Lords  of 
Trade  tried  to  bring  about  an  understanding  between  the  Brit- 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 8 


128  COLONIAL  AMERICANS 

ish  colonies  through  a  congress  at  Albany,  assembled  to  make 
a  joint  treaty  with  the  Iroquois,  and  representing  the  four  New 

98.  Con-  England  colonies,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Mary- 
llbaS  °f  land.  When  the  treaty  was  completed,  Benjamin  Frank- 
(1754)  lin  of  Pennsylvania  presented  a  plan  for  colonial  union, 

which  is  a  foreshadowing  of  our  present  federal  constitution. 
A  grand  council  sent  from  the  colonies  in  proportion  to  their 
inhabitants  was  to  have  control  of  all  Indian  affairs,  frontier 
settlements,  and  taxes  for  common  purposes.  This  plan  was 
approved  by  the  congress,  and  sent  out  to  the  colonies  for 
consideration,  but  as  Franklin  said,  "Its  fate  was  singular; 
the  assemblies  did  not  adopt  it  as  they  all  thought  there  was 
too  much  prerogative  in  it,  and  in  England  it  was  judged  to 
have  too  much  of  the  democratic." 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  British  colonists  numbered 
about  1,300,000,  and  the  Canadians  were  about  80,000,  not 

99.  Three  counting  a  few  thousand  savage  allies.  The  points  of 
feat 8  °  6"  contac^  between  the  French  and  the  English  were : 
(1755-1757)   (1)  the  north  Atlantic  seacoast;    (2)  Lake  Champlain; 

(3)  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario ;  (4)  the  headwaters  of 
the  Ohio.  At  all  four  points  the  British  attempted  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  to  strike  hard,  and  most  of  the  colonies 
contributed  freely  in  men  and  money;  although  the  Quakers 
in  Pennsylvania  held  back,  for  they  were  opposed  to  all  wars. 
On  the  northeast  there  was  a  special  danger  from  the  7000 
French  settlers  who  remained  in  Acadia  (Nova  Scotia)  after  it 
was  ceded  to  Great  Britain  in  1713.  Parkman,  the  best  his- 
torian of  this  war,  says,  "  The  Acadians,  while  calling  them- 
selves neutrals,  were  an  enemy  encamped  in  the  heart  of  the 
province."  To  prevent  the  danger  of  their  rising,  an  officer 
was  sent,  in  1755,  with  orders  to  remove  them.  He  says  that 
Contempora-  the  men  first  to  embark  "  went  off  Praying,  Singing  & 
ries,II.365  Crying  being  Met  by  the  women  &  Children  all  the  way 
(which  is  1J  mile)  with  Great  Lamentations  upon  their  Knees 


WARS  WITH  THE   FRENCH  129 

praying  &c."  The  Acadian  families  were  torn  from  their 
homes,  loaded  on  vessels,  and  distributed  in  the  colonies,  where 
many  of  them  suffered  severely  before  they  could  find  a  liveli- 
hood ;  and  some  families  were  forever  separated. 

In  the  summer  of  1755  an  expedition  of  fifteen  hundred  men 
under  the  British  general  Braddock,  sent  against  Fort  Du- 
quesne,  met  a  dramatic  fate.  Braddock  was  within  seven  miles 
of  his  destination,  when  a  force  of  French  and  Indians,  about 
one  half  of  his  strength,  sallied  out  and  totally  defeated  him. 
His  regulars  were  brave  but  did  not  understand  bush  fighting, 
and  Braddock  would  not  allow  even  the  militia  to  fight  from 
behind  trees ;  hence  a  third  of  his  officers  and  men  were  killed, 
and  the  remainder,  regulars  and  provincials  alike,  Washington 
says,  "  ran  as  sheep  pursued  by  dogs." 

Braddock's  defeat  opened  a  road  directly  to  the  frontiers  of 
Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  which  were  harried  by  the  Indians ; 
but,  through  the  exertions  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  the  Six 
Nations  were  held  neutral  Two  campaigns  followed  without 
decisive  result.  The  English  lost  Fort  Oswego  on  Lake  On- 
tario ;  and,  while  attempting  to  force  the  Lake  Champlain  route, 
lost  Fort  William  Henry,  where  the  French  were  unable  to  pre- 
vent their  Indian  allies  from  massacring  the  prisoners. 

In  May,  1756,  Great  Britain  declared  war  against  France, 
and  the  general  European  struggle  began,  commonly  called  the 
Seven  Years'  War.    It  extended  even  to  India,  where  Lord     100.  Three 
Clive  assured  British  supremacy  against  both  French  and         years  of 
natives  at  the  battle  of  Plassey,  1757.    Elsewhere  Great  (1758-1760) 
Britain  suffered  humiliating  defeats.     Then  the  English  people 
insisted  that  William  Pitt,  an  ardent  and  impulsive  man,  a 
powerful  speaker,  and  a  great  administrator,   be  put  at  the 
head  of  affairs ;  and  affairs  began  to  mend.     Fort  Duquesne, 
and  Fort  Frontenac  on  Lake  Ontario,  were  taken  in  1758 ;  and 
the  French  were  so  weakened  at  sea  that  they  could  not  pre- 
vent the  second  capture  of  Louisburg. 


130 


COLONIAL  AMERICANS 


To  invade  Canada,  Pitt  now  selected  General  James  Wolfe, 
a  model  commander,  endowed  with  the  English  bulldog  te- 
nacity, and  at  the  same  time  with  the  soldier's  skill  and  dar- 
ing. With  9000  men  and 
a  fleet  Wolfe    besieged 
the    strong    fortress    of 
Quebec,     defended     by 
14,000    men   ably   com- 
manded by  the  Marquis 
de     Montcalm.      Wolfe 
forced  and  won  a  battle 
on  the  Plains  of  Abra- 
ham,   above    the    town 
(September    13,    1759), 
but  was  himself  mortally 
wounded.     "  '  They  run, 
see  how  they  run,'  cried  a 
bystander.    '  Who  runs ! ' 
demanded  our  hero,  with 
great    earnestness.  .  .  . 
The  Officer  answered,  '  The  enemy,  Sir ;  Egad,  they  give  way 
_        „.       everywhere/      The    dying    general    issued    his    orders 
torical  quickly ;  then  turning  on  his  side,  he  said,  i  Now,  God 

be  praised,  I  will  die  in  peace.' "  In  a  few  days  Quebec 
surrendered,  and  the  next  year  Montreal  fell.  In  1762  Manila 
and  Havana  were  captured  from  Spain  by  British  fleets. 

Hostilities  were  ended  in  all  parts  of  the  world  by  the  peace 
of  Paris  (February  10,  1763).  Manila  was  not  held,  and  Cuba 
was  given  up ;  but  the  British  took  Spanish  Florida  in 
exchange,  besides  annexing  Canada  and  Cape  Breton,  and 
the  whole  Mississippi  valley  east  of  the  river,  except  the 
Island  of  Orleans.  France  had  already  transferred  to 
Spain  the  part  of  Louisiana  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
together  with  New  Orleans.     Of  all  her  North  American  pos- 


James  Wolfe. 
From  an  old  print. 


Journal,  69 


101.  Exclu- 
sion of 
the  French 
from  North 
America 
(1763) 


WARS    WITH    THE   FRENCH 


131 


sessions,  France  retained  only  the  two  little  islands  of  St. 
Pierre  and  Miquelon  and  some  of  the  West  Indies. 


SCALE  OF  MILES 

6       HxT    25o 


_.__  Boundaries  of  the  new'provinceg 
^___  Proclamation  Line 

A Boundaries  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies 

Present  state  boundaries 


British  Colonies  in  1765. 

The  treaty  left  the  British  undisputed  owners  of  all  the 
territory  between  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  Mississippi  River, 
Hudson  Bay,  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  British  govern- 
ment, by  royal  proclamation,  October  7,  1763,  erected  three 
new  provinces,  Quebec,  East  Florida,  and  West  Florida,  and 


132  COLONIAL  AMERICANS 

extended  Georgia  to  the  St.  Marys  Eiver.  Instead  of  adding 
new  area  to  any  of  the  other  colonies,  several  of  which  had 
once  had  charters  extending  west  to  the  Pacific,  the  proclama- 
tion cut  off  all  the  old  colonies  from  the  Mississippi  basin 
by  a  clause  providing  that  "  no  governor,  or  commander  in 
chief  of  our  other  colonies  or  plantations  in  America  do  .  . 
grant,  warrant  or  survey  or  pass  patents  for  lands  beyond  the 
heads  or  sources  of  any  of  the  rivers  which  fall  into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  from  the  west  or  northwest."  That  country 
was  to  be  reserved  for  the  occupation  of  the  Indians.  At 
that  time  the  French  whites  and  half-breeds  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi were  not  more  than  6000  in  all ;  and  south  of  the  Ohio 
the  only  Europeans  were  a  few  score  traders  and  officials. 

The  English  began  at  once  to  mismanage  the  Indians.     As 
Sir  William  Johnson  said,  they  served  out  "harsh  treatment, 
102  Indian  anSry   words,  and  in  short,  everything   which   can   be 
neighbors      thought  of  to   inspire   .   .   .  dislike."     When  they  un- 
dertook to  send  out  garrisons  to  the  little  French  posts 
northwest  of  the  Ohio  River  in  1763,  a  dangerous  Indian  war 
blazed  out  under  the  leadership  of  the  great  chief  Pontiac. 
Several  posts  were  taken  and  the  garrisons  massacred,  but  the 
British  commander,  Colonel   Bouquet,  soon  broke  down  the 
Indian  rising. 

By  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  with  the  Six  Nations  (1768), 
a  dividing  boundary  line  was  drawn  from  Wood  Creek,  a  tribu- 
tary of  Oneida  Lake,  in  central  New  York,  southward  and  then 
westward  to  the  west  branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  thence  across 
to  the  Allegheny  Eiver,  and  down  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Tennessee.  This  was  an  acknowledgment  that  the  Iroquois, 
already  in  effect  wards  of  the  colony  of  New  York,  controlled 
territory  outside  the  valley  of  the  Hudson  and  the  New  York 
lakes.  New  relations  were  established  in  the  South  with  the 
five  tribes  of  Cherokees,  Chickasaws,  Choctaws,  Creeks,  and 
Seminoles,  who  had  about  14,000  "  guns,"  or  fighting  men.     In 


WARS   WITH  THE   FRENCH  133 

1768  the  British  got  their  first  treaty  of  land  cession  from  the 
Cherokees,  and  began  to  establish  an  influence  in  the  region 
between  Georgia  and  Louisiana. 


From  1689  to  1763  the  international  history  of  America  is 
the  history  of  the  downfall  of  the  French  colonial  power. 
At  the  beginning  France  had  Nova  Scotia,  Cape  Breton,  iq3.  Sum- 
Canada,  and  claims  to  Newfoundland  and  Hudson  Bay ;  mary 
and  she  colonized  Louisiana  and  asserted  title  to  the  whole 
Mississippi  valley,  though  she  occupied  only  a  narrow  fringe 
along  the  Gulf  coast  and  a  few  settlements  on  the  river. 

The  year  1713  is  the  great  turning  point,  because  in  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht  the  French  were  obliged  to  cede  Acadia 
to  Great  Britain.  In  1754  came  a  trial  of  strength  for  the 
Ohio  valley,  in  which  for  three  years  the  French  held  their 
own.  Then  in  1758  came  the  change;  one  French  defense 
after  another  gave  way,  and  the  capture  of  Quebec  in  1759 
broke  their  hold  on  Canada.  In  1763  they  were  compelled  to 
give  up  every  square  foot  of  their  splendid  empire  on  the 
mainland,  and  retained  only  the  two  little  islands  of  St.  Pierre 
and  Miquelon  south  of  Newfoundland,  and  their  possessions  in 
the  West  Indies,  including  part  of  Haiti.  Thenceforward  the 
Anglo-Saxons  controlled  the  destinies  of  North  America. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Was  William  III.  interested  in  the  colonies?     (2)  Make  a   Suggestive 
list  of  wars  in  which  the  Iroquois  took  part.      (3)  Make  a  list   toPlcs 
of  captures  and  conquests  of  French  territory  in  North  America 
by  the  English,  1603-1750.      (4)  Why  was  Port  Royal  so  often 
attacked  ?     (5)  Why  did  the  Tuscaroras  join  the  Five  Nations  ? 

(6)  What  claim  had  the  French  and  the  English  to  Hudson  Bay  ? 

(7)  Why  did  the  Spaniards  allow  the  French  to  settle  on  the  lower 
Mississippi  ?  (8)  Make  a  list  of  attacks  on  English  seacoast 
settlers  by  the  French  and  Spanish,  1607-1750.  (9)  What  claim 
had  the  English  to  the  Ohio  valley  ?  (10)  Was  it  necessary  to 
deport  the  Acadians  ?    (11)  Why  was  the  peace  of  1763  unpopular? 


134 


COLONIAL  AMERICANS 


Search 
topics 


(12)  What  were  the  general  European  wars  corresponding  to  the 
four  intercolonial  wars  —  and  what  were  their  causes  ? 

(13)  Account  of  a  fleet  engagement  between  the  English  and  the 
French.  (14)  Life  on  a  British  man-of-war  about  1750.  (15)  Ac- 
count of  an  Indian  raid  on  a  frontier  town.  (16)  The  "casket 
girls  "  in  Louisiana.  (17)  Germans  in  Louisiana.  (18)  English  cap- 
tives taken  to  Canada.  (19)  Attack  on  Carthagena,  1741.  (20)  Con- 
temporary accounts  of  Braddock's  defeat ;  of  the  capture  of  Quebec. 
(21)  Early  New  Orleans.  (22)  Defeat  of  Pontiac.  (23)  British 
war  with  the  French  in  India,  1756-1763. 


Geography 


Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  121,  131 ;  Thwaites,  France  in  America  ;  Semple, 
Geographic  Conditions,  36-46. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  12-20  ;  Fisher,  Colonial  Era, 
236-240,  286-291;  Sloane,  French  War  and  Bevolution,  22-115; 
Lodge,  English  Colonies,  30-36,  109-111,  223-225,  307-310,  367- 
371 ;  Thwaites,  France  in  America  ;  Fiske,  New  France  and  New 
England,  233-359;  Parkman,  Frontenac,  184-452,  —  Half  Cen- 
tury of  Conflict,  —  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  — Pontiac,  I.  69-367,  II.  ; 
Wilson,  American  People,  II.  58-61,  68-97  ;  Gay,  Bryant's  History, 
III.  192-221,  254-328;  Winsor,  Cartier  to  Frontenac,  342-366,— 
Mississippi  Basin ;  King,  Sieur  de  Bienville ;  Griffis,  Sir  William 
Johnson  ;  Lodge,  George  Washington,  I.  1-14,  54-118  ;  Johnson, 
General  Washington,  1-66.     See  also  references  to  ch.  iv. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  37-40,  —  Contemporaries,  II.  §§  22,  109- 
129,  —  Source  Beaders,  I.  §  42,  II.  §§  24-32,  34,  37-44  ;  MacDonald, 
Select  Charters,  nos.  51,  52,  54  ;  American  History  Leaflets,  no.  14; 
Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  9,  73  ;  Caldwell,  Surveys,  39-43,  —  Terri- 
torial Development,  12-23.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n, 
Syllabus,  316,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  75. 

Eggleston,  American  War  Ballads,  I.  14-20  ;  Longfellow,  Evange- 
line ;  Whittier,  Pentucket ;  Gilbert  Parker,  Trail  of  the  Sword 
(Canada),  —  Seats  of  the  Mighty  (French  and  Indian  War); 
William  Kirby,  Golden  Dog  (Canada)  ;  W.  J.  Gordon,  English- 
man's Haven  (Louisburg);  Hawthorne,  Grandfathers  Chair,  pt.  ii. 
chs.  vii.-x., —  Old  News,  pt.  ii.  ;  James  McHenry,  The  Wilder- 
ness (Ohio  country)  ;  B.  E.  Stevenson,  Soldier  of  Virginia  (Brad- 
dock  and  Washington)  ;  J.  E.  Cooke,  Stories  of  the  Old  Dominion, 
110-139 ;  C.  E.  Craddock,  Old  Fort  Loudon  ;  Cooper,  Last  of  the 
Mohicans,  —  Pathfinder ;  Kirk  Munroe,  At  War  with  Pontiac. 

Winsor,  America,  V.  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  II. ;  Sparks, 
Expansion. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


QUARREL   WITH  THE   MOTHER   COUNTRY    (1763-1774) 

The  period  from  1760  to  1765  is  a  turning  point  in  the  his- 
tory both  of  England  and  of  America,  for  it  marks  the  begin- 
ning of  a  feeling  of  hostility  between  these  two  parts  of      104.  New 

.  .  forces  in 

the  British  Empire.     The  first  strong  and  positive  sover-     tne  Britisn 

eign  since  William  III.  was  the  young  George  III.,  who  Empire 

came  to  the  throne  in  1760,  and  said,  in  a  public  address; 
"  Born  and  bred  in  this  country,  I  glory  in  the  name  of  Briton." 
His  mother  used  to  say  to  him, 
"  George,  be  a  king  "  ;  and  as 
soon  as  he  could,  he  rid  him- 
self of  the  ministry  of  noble 
Whig  families  who  controlled 
both  houses  of  Parliament, 
and  he  began  systematically 
to  build  up  a  personal  gov- 
ernment. 

Opposed  to  the  king's  policy 
was  a  group  of  brilliant  states- 
men, of  whom  the  most  famous 
were  William  Pitt  (later  Earl 
of  Chatham),  Charles  James 
Eox,  and  Edmund  Burke ;  they 


George  III.,  about  1765. 

From  a  painting  by  Sir  William 
Beechy. 


counseled  wise  and  moderate  dealing  with  the  colonies.  Not- 
withstanding this  opposition,  for  a  long  time  the  king  by 
shrewd  means,  by  bestowing  titles  here,  appointments  there, 
reproofs  to  a  third  man,  and  banknotes  where  other  things 

135 


136  REVOLUTION 

failed,  was  able  to  keep  up  in  the  House  of  Commons  a  major- 
ity, usually  called  "  the  king's  friends." 

On  the  western  side  of  the  Atlantic  a  new  spirit  began  to 
stir  among  the  colonists  when  the  danger  of  invasion  by  French 
neighbors  ceased  forever  in  1763.  As  the  French  statesman 
Turgot  said  (1750),  "  Colonies  are  like  fruits,  they  stick  to  the 
tree  only  while  they  are  green ;  as  soon,  as  they  can  take  care 
of  themselves  they  do  what  Carthage  did  and  what  America 
will  do."  These  latent  tendencies  to  independence  were 
strengthened  by  the  attempt  of  the  home  government  to  assert 
new  powers  of  government  over  the  colonies.  The  colonial 
officials  in  England  resented  the  slowness  and  lack  of  united 
action  shown  by  the  colonial  assemblies  during  the  French  and 
Indian  War,  and  felt  that  it  would  be  better  for  them  all  to 
pay  money  into  one  treasury,  for  general  colonial  purposes. 

Up  to  this  time  the  principal  British  control  over  the  colonies 
as  a  whole  had  been  exercised  through  the  navigation  acts. 

105.  Regu-  Notwithstanding  the  special  privileges  thereby  given  to 
colonial  colonial  ships,  the  acts  caused  friction,  because  they  cut 
trade  off  colonial  trade  and  profits  in  order  to  swell  the  trade 

and  profits  of  English  merchants.  The  home  government  was 
aware  that  smuggling  went  on,  and  tried  to  stop  it ;  but  even 
the  little  duties  laid  by  the  home  government  in  colonial  ports, 
to  give  some  control  over  the  movements  of  ships,  were  so 
evaded  that  it  cost  £7000  a  year  to  collect  £2000.  To  prevent 
the  rise  of  new  manufactures  the  British  (1750)  prohibited  the 
colonists  from  using  rolling  mills  and  steel  furnaces;  and  in 
1774  stopped  the  coming  in  of  machinery  for  making  cloth. 

In  order  to  detect  smugglers,  British  custpms  officers  in 
the  colonies  were  accustomed  to  go  to  the  courts  and  ask  for 

106.  Claim  a  general  writ  of  assistance,  which  authorized  them  to 
ienab^e' "  search-  any  private  buildings  for  suspected  smuggled 
Eights  "        goods  ;  without  such  searches  the  navigation  acts  could 

hardly  be  carried  out.     In  a  test  case  before  the  Massachusetts 


QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY     137 

courts  in  1761,  a  brilliant  and  able  young  lawyer,  James  Otis, 
argued  against  the  writs  on  the  novel  ground  that  they  were 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  English  law :  "  Reason  and  the 
constitution  are  both  against  this  writ.  .  .  .  All  precedents 
are  under  the  control  of  the  principles  of  law.  .  .  .     No  John 

Acts  of  Parliament  can  establish  such  a  writ.  .  .  .     An      works,  II. 
act  against  the  constitution  is  void."     John  Adams  said  525 

of  him,  "  Otis  was  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel  united  —  Otis  was  a 
flame  of  fire — Otis's  oration  against  writs  of  assistance  breathed 
into  this  nation  the  breath  of  life." 

Notwithstanding  Otis's  argument,  the  writs  of  assistance 
were  again  issued  in  Massachusetts;  but  his  speech  and  his 
later  pamphlets  stated  three  principles  of  great  weight  in 
the  approaching  Revolution :  (1)  that  the  colonists  possessed 
certain  inalienable  personal  rights;  (2)  that  there  was  a 
traditional  system  of  colonial  government,  which  could  not  be 
altered  by  Great  Britain  without  the  consent  of  the  colonies ; 
(3)  that  under  that  system  the  colonies  were  united  to  Great 
Britain  through  the  same  sovereign,  but  were  not  a  dependent 
part  of  Great  Britain,  nor  subject  to  Parliament. 

In  accordance  with  the  practice  of  a  century  and  a  half, 
the  home  government  about  this  time  disallowed  a  statute  of 
Virginia  which  reduced  the  stipends  of  the  established  clergy. 
A  test  case  was  made  (1763),  commonly  called  "  the  Parson's 
Cause,"  in  which  Patrick  Henry  got  his  first  reputation  and 
won  the  jury  by  an  argument  that  there  was  a  limit  to  the 
legal  control  of  the  mother  country  over  colonial  legisla- 
tion. In  a  bold  and  significant  phrase  he  declared  that  Contempora- 
"  a  King,  by  .  .  .  disallowing  acts  of  so  salutary  a  na-  nes> IL 106 
ture,  from  being  the  Father  of  his  people  degenerates  into  a 
Tyrant,  and  forfeits  all  right  to  his  subjects'  obedience." 

Another  danger  to  the  freedom  of  the  colonies  came  from 
a  new  spirit  in  the  Lords  of  Trade.  When  Charles  Town- 
shend  was  chairman  for  a  short  time  (February  to  April,  1763), 


138 


REVOLUTION 


he  worked  out  a  comprehensive  plan  for  controlling  the  colo- 
nies. (1)  Armed  vessels  were  to  be  sent  to  the  American 
107  Pro  coast>  an(i  the  naval  officers  were  to  be  commissioned  as 
posed  con-  revenue  officers.  (2)  A  new  system  of  admiralty  courts 
Dial  govern-  was  to  ^e  set  UP>  to  ^ea^  more  effectively  with  breaches 
ments  of  the  Acts  of  Trade.     (3)  A  force  of  troops  was  to  be 

•  stationed  in  America  for  common  defense  at  the  expense 
of  the  colonies.  (4)  Steps  were  to  be 
taken  to  appoint  and  pay  the  colonial 
judges  from  England,  so  as  to  free  them 
from  control  of  the  colonial  assemblies. 
(5)  For  the  necessary  expenses  a  stamp 
duty  was  to  be  laid  on  the  colonies. 
None  of  the  proposed  measures  were  car- 
ried out  at  the  time. 

Another  danger  was  brought  on  by  the 

activity  of  Lord  George  Grenville,  when 

108.  Tax-      ne  became  prime  minister  in  April, 

ation  and      1763.      The  Molasses  Act  of  1733, 

the  Stamp 

Act  essentially  a  measure   to    protect 

(1763-1765)  tne  sugar  planters  of  the  British 
West  Indies,  was  by  the  Sugar  Act  of 
1764  made  more  stringent  and  extended 
to  coffee  and  other  tropical  products.  In 
this  act  Grenville  inserted  the  statement 
that  it  was  "just  and  necessary"  that  a 
tax  be  laid  in  the  colonies.  In  1765  he  informed  the  agents 
of  the  colonies  that  he  meant  to  lay  a  stamp  duty  unless  they 
would  suggest  some  other  form  of  taxation.  Without  much 
objection,  an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed  (March,  1765)  for 
"  certain  stamp  duties,  and  other  duties,  in  the  British  colonies 
and  plantations  in  America,  toward  further  defraying  the  ex- 
penses of  defending,  protecting,  and  securing  the  same."  The 
duties  were  to  be  imposed  on  all  sorts  of  fegal  documents,  law 


Great-grandmother's 
Dress. 

Abigail  Bishop's  dress  of 
1780,  worn  by  a  de- 
scendant. 


QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 


139 


proceedings,  wills,  licenses  and  commissions,  land  patents,  bills 
of  sale ;  and  also  on  playing  cards,  newspapers,  pamphlets,  ad- 
vertisements, almanacs,  and  the  like.  The  proceeds  of  the  tax 
(estimated  at  £100,000  a  year)  were  to  go  toward  the  expense 
of  troops  which  were  to  be  sent  to  America  for  the  defense  of 
the  colonies.  A  few  days  later  another  cause  of  quarrel  was 
provided  in  the  Quartering  Act,  by  which  military  officers  were 
authorized  to  call  on  colonial  authori- 
ties to  provide  barracks  for  troops. 

Against  the  Stamp  Act  the  best  writ- 
ers in  America  poured  forth  a  flood  of 
argument  and  protest. 

(1)  On  taxation,  they  argued  that 
the  power  of  laying  taxes  for  revenue 
in  the  colonies  belonged  solely  to  the 
colonial  governments.  As  for  Parlia- 
ment, one  writer  said:  If  they  "have 
a  right  to  impose  a  stamp  tax,  they 
have  a  right  to  lay  on  us  a  poll  tax,  a 
land  tax,  a  malt  tax,  a  cider  tax,  a 
window  tax,  a  smoke  tax;  and  why 
not  tax  us  for  the  light  of  the  sun,  the 
air  we  breathe,  and  the  ground  we  are 
buried  in  ?  " 

(2)  On  representation,  they  argued 
that  the  principle  practiced  by  Parlia- 
ment itself  was  "  no  taxation  without  representation,"  and  how 
could  they  be  represented  in  a  Parliament  thousands  of  miles 
away?  And  they  scouted  the  British  explanation  that  they 
were  fairly  represented  by  the  English  members  of  a  Parlia- 
ment; for  their  principle  was  that  members  of  a  legislature 
represented  not  classes  or  landed  interests,  but  a  body  of  peo- 
ple living  in  some  definite  area. 

(3)  On  the  nature  of  colonial  government,  they  maintained 


A  Colonial  Lady, 
about  1780. 

Portrait  of  Susanna  Ran- 
dolph, by  Copley. 


140  REVOLUTION 

that  the  colonists  had  a  traditional  right  not  to  be  subject  in 
such  matters  to  the  control  of  Parliament.     For  instance,  the 
John  Han-     Boston  merchant  John  Hancock  said,  "  I  will  never  carry 
cock,  his        on  Business  under  such  great  disadvantages  and  Burthen. 
I  will  not  be  a  slave,  I  have  a  right  to  the  libertys  & 
Privileges  of  the  English  Constitution,  and  I  as  an  English- 
man will  enjoy  them." 

Opposition  to  the  tax  took  several  serious  forms. 

(1)  Some  of  the  colonial  assemblies  passed  strong  resolutions 

109.  Op-        against  taxation;   the  best  known  are  Patrick  Henry's 

position  to     yirginia  Eesolutions,  which  culminate  in  the  declaration 

the  Stamp  &  ' 

Act  (1765)     "  That  every  attempt  to  vest  such  power  in  any  other 

Frothing-  person  or  persons  whatever  than  the  General  Assembly 
^hmRRl8br^  aforesaid,  is  illegal,  unconstitutional,  and  unjust,  and  has 
so  a  manifest  tendency  to  destroy  British  as  well  as  Ameri- 

can liberty." 

(2)  More  quiet  but  effective  means  were  the  organization 
of  "  Sons  of  Liberty,"  a  kind  of  patriotic  society ;  and  an 
attempt  to  boycott  British  goods. 

(3)  In  many  places  mobs  made  discussion  impossible;  stamp 
distributors  were  threatened  and  compelled  to  resign,  or  were 
burned  in  effigy  before  their  own  doors,  and  their  property  de- 
stroyed. Thomas  Hutchinson,  lieutenant  governor  and  chief 
justice  of  Massachusetts,  opposed  the  Stamp  Act  while  it  was 
pending ;  nevertheless  his  house  was  sacked  and  plundered,  and 
his  life  and  the  lives  of  his  family  endangered  because  he  pro- 
posed to  execute  the  law.  In  thus  forsaking  an  orderly  govern- 
ment, and  resorting  to  violence,  the  people  who  engaged  in 
these  outbreaks  damaged  their  own  cause  and  set  a  bad  ex- 
ample for  the  years  that  followed. 

(4)  The  most  effective  method  was  the  holding  of  a  Stamp 
Act  Congress  of  delegates  from  nine  colonies,  in  New  York, 
October  7,  1765.  This  dignified  body  petitioned  the  British 
government  to  withdraw  the  act,  and  drew  up  a  formal  state- 


QUARREL   WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY  141 

ment  of  "the  most  essential  rights  and  liberties  of  the  colo- 
nists, and  of  the  grievances  under  which  they  labor."  This 
document  set  forth  loyalty  to  the  crown,  but  stood  firm  on 
"No  taxation  without  representation."  When  November  1 
came,  the  date  for  putting  the  act  in  force,  it  was  entirely 
ignored,  and  documents  were  simply  left  without  stamps. 

The  opposition  to  the  Stamp  Act  caused  much  perplexity  in 
England.  William  Pitt  warmly  defended  the  colonists :  "  We 
may  bind  their  trade,  confine  their  manufactures,  and  exercise 
every  power  whatsoever,"  said  he,  "except  that  of  taking  their 
money  out  of  their  pockets  without  their  consent."  Parlia- 
ment repealed  the  Stamp  Act  (March  18,  1766)  before  any 
serious  attempt  had  been  made  to  execute  it ;  but  eleven  days 
earlier  passed  a  brief  act  setting  forth  that  the  colonies  were 
"subordinate  unto,  and  dependent  upon  the  Imperial  Crown 
and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  [which  had]  full  power  and 
authority  ...  to  bind  the  Colonies  and  People  of  America, 
subject  of  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain,  in  all  Cases  whatsoever." 

By  thus  reaffirming  the  right  to  tax  the  colonies,  the  way 
was  opened  for  a  renewal  of  the  trouble.     Townshend  again 
came  into  power,   and   in  1767  secured  new  duties  on    110  T0Wn. 
paper,  painters'  colors,  glass,  and  tea,  the  expected  pro-    8nend  Ac*s. 
ceeds   of  £35,000   or  £40,000   a   year   to  be   used   to     Tn  Boston 
pay  fixed  salaries  to  royal  colonial  officers.     When  the  (1767-1771) 
New  York  assembly  refused  to  pass  the  necessary  act  to  pro- 
vide barracks  and  other  necessities  for  the   British   troops, 
Townshend  took  the  dangerous  step  of  practically  suspending 
the  government  of  New  York  by  an  act  of  Parliament.     This 
distinct  assertion  that  the  colonial  assemblies  were  subject  to 
Parliament  greatly  alarmed  the  other  colonies. 

Again  strong  protests  were  heard.  John  Dickinson  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  his  Letters  from  a  Farmer,  called  upon  his 
countrymen  by  practical  and  law-abiding  methods  to  "take 
care  of  our  rights,  and  we  therein  take  care  of  our  prosperity 


142  DEVOLUTION 

.  .  .  slavery  is  ever  preceded  by  sleep."  Non-importation 
agreements  were  made  in  many  parts  of  the  colonies  and 
signed  by  men  like  George  Washington.  The  General  Court, 
or  legislature,  of  Massachusetts  sent  a  circular  letter  to 
the  other  colonies,  urging  them  to  join  in  remonstrance.  In 
June,  1768,  British  customhouse  officials  were  assaulted  while 
searching  the  sloop  Liberty,  belonging  to  John  Hancock ;  and 
he  was  sued  for  smuggling.  Soon  after,  two  regiments  of  red- 
coats were  ordered  to  Boston  "  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the 
government  in  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay."  As  a 
witty  Boston  clergyman  said,  "Our  grievances  are  now  all 
red-dressed." 

The  coming  of  troops,  intended  to  overawe  and  not  to  defend, 
incensed  all  the  colonies.  In  March,  1770,  there  was  a  fight  be- 
tween the  troops  and  the  populace  in  Boston  in  which  five  per- 
sons were  killed.  Although  the  name  "  Boston  Massacre  "  was 
applied  to  the  unfortunate  affair,  John  Adams  was  so  far  from 
sympathy  with  the  populace  that  he  defended  the  commander 
of  the  troops,  who  was  acquitted.  Two  of  the  soldiers  who 
had  fired  without  orders,  under  great  provocation,  were  con- 
victed of  manslaughter,  and  eventually  were  lightly  punished. 

The  offensive  Townshend  duties  were  withdrawn  in  1771, 
after  producing  £16,000.  at  a  cost  of  about  £200,000;  but 
again  the  British  government  stupidly  insisted  on  the  principle 
of  taxation  by  retaining  a  tea  duty  of  threepence  a  pound. 

Just  about  this  time  another  grievance  much  disturbed  the 

peace  of  mind  of  many  good  colonists.     So  completely  sepa- 

111.  Ques-     rated  are  church  and  state  in  America  to-day  that  it  is 

turn  of  a        ^ar(j  to  reajize  now  mucn  0lir  forefathers  feared  that 

colonial 

church  they  might  be  brought  under  the  control  of  the  Church 

of  England  by  the  designation  of  an  American  bishop,  or 
bishops.  The  idea  was  not  welcome  to  the  Episcopalians 
of  the  southern  and  middle  colonies,  and  was  still  more  un- 
popular in  New  England,  where  the  Congregational  Church 


QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 


143 


>%&*■'  j„:.v> 


'The  Bishop's  Palace,"  Cambridge, 
built  in  1761. 

T^pe  of  the  handsome  colonial  house. 


was  established.    When  the  Episcopal  missionary  to  the  college 
town  of  Cambridge  built  himself  a  large  and  handsome  house, 

it  came  to  be  popularly 
known  as  "the  Bishop's 
Palace."  If  the  colonists 
had  realized  it,  there  was 
no  cause  for  alarm ;  for 
the  British  government 
was  unwilling  to  furnish 
a  new  cause  of  grievance. 
While  North  and  South 
were  slowly  combining  to 
oppose  Great  Brit-  112  t^ 
ain,    a    new   West  Trans- 

was  opening  up,  on  the  headwaters  of  the  southern  tribu-  movement 
taries  of  the  Ohio  (map,  p.  181).  After  the  French  and  (1768-1774) 
Indian  War,  both  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  claimed  the  forks 
of  the  Ohio,  where  in  1765  the  town  of  Pittsburg  was  founded. 
People  poured  across  the  mountains,  and  part  of  them  drifted 
southward  into  the  mountain  regions  of  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  Then  frontiersmen,  chiefly  Scotch-Irish  and  Ger- 
man with  a  few  Huguenots,  ignored  the  proclamation  of  1763 
(pp.  131,  132),  defied  their  own  colonial  governments,  braved 
the  Indians,  and  plunged  into  the  western  wilderness. 

The  pioneer  in  this  movement  was  Daniel  Boone  of  the 
Yadkin  district  in  North  Carolina,  who  in  1769,  with  five  com- 
panions, started  out  "  in  quest  of  the  country  of  Kentucke." 
For  years  he  was  the  leading  spirit  in  a  little  community  of 
men  who  were  frontiersmen,  farmers,  trappers,  and  Indian 
fighters  all  at  the  same  time  —  the  first  settlers  in  Kentucky. 

A  second  and  more  continuous  settlement  was  begun  in  1769 

by  William  Beane,  on  the  Watauga  River,  a  head  stream  of  the 

Tennessee.     Soon  after,  the  so-called  "  Regulators  "  of  North 

Carolina  protested  in  arms  against  the  tedious  and  expensive 

hart's  ameb.  hist. — 9 


144  REVOLUTION 

methods  of  the  courts,  and  in  1771  were  defeated  by  Governor 
Try  on  in  the  battle  of  the  Alamance.  Some  of  those  who 
escaped  crossed  over  to  the  Watauga,  which  they  supposed  to 
be  a  part  of  Virginia,  though  it  proved  to  be  within  the  North 
Carolina  claims.  Under  the  leadership  of  John  Sevier  and 
James  Robertson,  they  formed  a  little  representative  constitu- 
tion under  the  name  of  "  Articles  of  the  Watauga  Association.'' 

By  this  time  the  value  of  the  West  was  apparent  to  some 
capitalists,  who  formed  the  Vandalia  Company,  a  kind  of  suc- 
cessor to  the  old  Ohio  Company,  and  asked  for  a  royal  charter 
for  a  colony  south  of  the  Ohio.  In  1774,  however,  Parlia- 
ment showed  the  purpose  of  the  British  government  to  pre- 
vent the  growth  of  any  new  western  commonwealth,  by  the 
Quebec  Act,  which  added  the  region  between  the  Ohio  and 
the  Great  Lakes  to  the  province  of  Quebec. 

The  conflicts  between  Boone's  men  and  the  Indians  living 
north  of  the  Ohio,  for  the  unoccupied  "Dark  and  Bloody 
Ground"  of  Kentucky,  led  in  1774  to  "Lord  Dunmore's  War," 
which  was  aggravated  by  a  brutal  and  unprovoked  murder  of 
the  family  of  Logan,  a  well-known  Indian  chief.  Dunmore,  the 
governor  of  Virginia,  pushed  across  the  Ohio,  a  second  army 
beat  the  Indians  at  Point  Pleasant  on  the  Kanawha,  and  the 
savages  were  forced  to  cede  their  claims  south  of  the  Ohio. 
Meanwhile  the  few  settlers  in  Kentucky  fled  eastward. 

The  infant  West  seemed  to  Massachusetts  people  the  small- 
est of  interests;  for  their  own  struggle  was  all  absorbing, 
113.  Crisis  and  it  became  almost  a  personal  contest  between  Samuel 
land  ng"  Adams,  leader  of  the  popular  party,  and  Thomas  Hutch- 
(1772-1773)  inson,  the  governor.  Hutchinson's  letters  to  friends  in 
England,  urging  that  "  there  must  be  an  abridgment  of  what  are 
called  English  liberties,"  fell  into  the  hands  of  Adams,  who  used 
them  to  persuade  the  people  that  Hutchinson  was  their  enemy. 

In  June,  1772,  the  Gaspee,  a  British  vessel  engaged  in  catch- 
ing smugglers,  was  burned  in  Rhode  Island  by  a  mob,  against 


QUARREL   WITH  THE   MOTHER   COUNTRY  145 

whom  nobody  would  testify.  Things  grew  so  squally  that 
Samuel  Adams,  in  1772,  obtained  from  the  Boston  town  meet- 
ing a  Committee  of  Correspondence  "  to  state  the  Eights  of  the 
colonists  and  of  this  Province  in  particular  ...  to  communi- 
cate and  publish  the  same  to  the  several  Towns  in  this  Province 
and  to  the  World."  A  continental  committee  was  subsequently 
appointed,  and  eleven  other  colonies  appointed  similar  com- 
mittees, which  kept  themselves  informed  of  public  feeling  and 
thus  prepared  for  later  joint  action. 

The  tea  duty  left  in  force  by  Townshend  in  1771  was  not  much 
felt,  because  the  colonists  usually  drank  smuggled  tea;  but 
to  help  the  British  East  India  Company  out  of  financial  diffi- 
culties, the  home  government  gave  it  such  privileges  that  it 
was  able  to  undersell  the  smugglers,  and  in  August,  1773,  tea 
ships  were  dispatched  to  the  principal  colonial  ports.  If  the 
tea  were  landed  and  the  duty  paid,  the  right  of  taxation  was 
admitted.  Hence,  upon  the  arrival  of  the  tea  ships  in  Phila- 
delphia, New  York,  and  some  other  places,  they  were  sent  back 
without  unloading.  Efforts  to  this  end  in  Boston  were  foiled ; 
but  a  meeting  of  five  or  six  thousand  people  was  held  in  the 
Old  South  Church  in  Boston  (December  16, 1773)  to  make  a  final 
protest  against  the  landing  of  the  tea.  Suddenly  a  war  whoop 
was  heard  outside,  and  two  hundred  men  boarded  the  ships  and 
flung  into  the  sea  tea  worth  £18,000  (about  $90,000).  An  eye- 
witness says :  "  They  say  the  actors  were  Indians  from  Mass  Hist 
Narragansett.  Whether  they  were  or  not,  to  a  transient  Society  Pro- 
observer  they  appear' d  as  such,  being  cloatlr  d  in  Blankets  i864-i865, 
with  the  heads  muffled,  and  copper-color'd  countenances."  P- 326 

Children  who  next  morning  found  their  fathers'  shoes  full  of 
tea  kept  their  own  counsel. 

To  the  Tory  government  in  England,  the  Boston  Tea  Party 
appeared  an  act  of  outrageous  violence,  encouraged  by        ...  _. 
the  town  of  Boston  and  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  and      force  acts 
deserving  such  punishment  as  would  give  warning  to  '        ' 


146 


REVOLUTION 


other  colonies.  In  spite  of  Edmund  Burke's  protests  against  a 
policy  "  which  punishes  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  and  con- 
demns without  the  possibility  of  defense/'  a  series  of  coercive 
statutes,  sometimes  called  "  the  Intolerable  Acts,"  were  hastily 
passed  by  Parliament  (1774) :  (1)  The  port  of  Boston  was 
closed  until  the  town  should  make  proper  satisfaction  for  the 
destruction  of  the  tea.  (2)  The  charter  of  Massachusetts  was 
"  revoked  and  made  void,"  in  so  far  that  the  governor  received 

new  authority  over  the 
council  and  the  town 
meetings.  (3)  The  au- 
thority to  take  the  nec- 
essary buildings  for 
barracks  was  renewed. 
(4)  Persons  charged  with 
murder  or  other  capital 
offenses,  committed  in 
the  execution  of  orders 
from  England,  might  be 
transported  to  England 
for  trial. 

To  put  these  measures 
into  force,  General 
Thomas  Gage  was  sent 
over  to  Massachusetts ; 
he  superseded  Governor 


English  Light  Dragoon,  about  1778. 
Type  of  the  British  cavalryman. 


Hutchinson,  and  attempted  to  establish  the  new  government 
by  "  mandamus  councillors,"  whom  he  appointed  contrary  to 
the  provisions  of  the  charter.  The  Salem  merchants  offered 
their  wharves  to  their  Boston  brethren,  and  from  south  to 
north  came  expressions  of  sympathy  with  Massachusetts. 
Resistance  to  taxes  laid  by  Parliament  had  carried  the  coun- 
try to  the  verge  of  revolution. 


QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY     147 

During  the  eleven  years  from  1763  to  1774,  the  colonies  lost 
their  old  contentment  in  their  relation  to  Great  Britain,  and 
came  almost  to  the  point  of  revolt.     The  main  reasons      115.  gum. 
were:    (1)  taxation  by  Parliament  for  revenue  through  mary 

the  Stamp  Act  of  1765,  the  Townshend  duties  of  1767,  and  the 
tea  duties  of  1771-1773;  (2)  the  execution  of  the  navigation 
acts,  by  means  of  writs  of  assistance,  or  by  customhouse  officers 
as  in  the  sloop  Liberty  (1768),  or  by  naval  officers  as  in  the 
Gaspee  (1772) ;  (3)  attempts  to  alter  the  form  of  colonial 
governments,  as  shown  by  the  suspension  of  the  New  York 
legislature  (1767),  and  especially  by  the  repeal  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts charter  in  1774,  —  apprehension  was  heightened  by  the 
Parson's  Cause  (1763),  and  the  supposed  purpose  to  send  over 
a  colonial  bishop;  (4)  a  fear  that  those  personal  rights  were 
endangered  which  were  claimed  by  Englishmen  in  England  as 
well  as  in  America ;  (5)  experience  of  the  power  of  union,  as 
shown  in  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  of  1765,  the  nonimportation 
agreements  of  1765, 1768,  and  1769,  the  resolutions  of  sympathy 
or  defiance  in  the  colonial  legislatures,  and  the  committees  of 
correspondence  of  1773;  (6)  irritation  at  the  way  in  which 
British  rulers,  colonial  governors,  and  regular  officers  looked 
down  on  the  colonists  ;  (7)  the  narrowness  and  stupidity  of 
George  III.  and  other  English  leaders,  who  did  not  understand 
the  colonists,  and  pushed  the  contest  to  a  fatal  issue. 

TOPICS 

(1)  How  did  George  III.  come  to  be  king  of  Great  Britain  ?    Suggestive 

(2)  What  were   the  services  of  James  Otis  to  American  liberty  ? 

(3)  Why  ought  not  the  colonial  judges  to  be  paid  by  the  home 
government  ?  (4)  Make  a  list  of  acts  of  Parliament  laying  taxes 
on  the  colonies,  1060  to  1765.  (5)  Why  was  the  Stamp  Act  re- 
pealed ?  (6)  Why  should  the  colonists  object  to  the  Quartering 
Act  ?  (7)  What  personal  rights  did  the  colonists  have  in  1765  ? 
(8)  Why  did  the  colonists  object  to  control  of  their  government  by 
Parliament  ?  (9)  Was  Governor  Hutchinson  hostile  to  the  liberties 
of  Massachusetts  ?     (10)  Was  the  Boston  Tea  Party  justifiable  ? 


topics 


148 


REVOLUTION 


Search 
topics 


(11)  Early  life  of  George  III.  (12)  Predictions  of  American 
independence  before  1775.  (13)  Account  of  the  Parson's  Cause. 
(14)  Contemporary  objections  to  the  Stamp  Act.  (15)  Stamp  Act 
mobs.  (16)  Affair  of  the  sloop  Liberty.  (17)  Destruction  of  the 
Gaspee.  (18)  Principles  of  the  Watauga  Association.  (19)  West- 
ern frontier  life,  1769-1774.  (20)  Governor  Gage's  "mandamus 
councillors."  (21)  North  Carolina  "  Regulators."  (22)  Franklin's 
opinion  of  the  Stamp  Act. 


Geography- 


Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  131,  181  ;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  46-74 ; 
Epoch  Maps,  no.  5. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  22-30 ;  Sloane,  French  War 
and  Bevolution,  116-173 ;  Lodge,  English  Colonies,  476-490 ; 
Howard,  Preliminaries  of  the  Bevolution  ;  Fiske,  American  Bevo- 
lution, T.  1-99  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  II.  98-192  ;  Gay,  Bry- 
ant's History,  III.  329-376  ;  Frothingham,  Bise  of  the  Bepublic, 
158-358 ;  Lodge,  American  Bevolution ;  Trevelyan,  American 
Bevolution,  pt.  i.  28-193  ;  McCrady,  South  Carolina,  II.  541-732  ; 
Wiusor,  Westward  Movement,  4-81,  100-106;  Roosevelt,  Winning 
of  the  West,  I.  28-271;  Tyler,  Bevolution  (literary),  I.  1-266,— 
Patrick  Henry,  1-100  ;  Sparks,  Men  who  made  the  Nation,  1-72 ; 
Thwaites,  Daniel  Boone,  1-112;  Morse,  Benjamin  Franklin,  100- 
203  ;  Ford,  Many-sided  Franklin  ;  Hosmer,  Samuel  Adams,  1-259, 

—  Thomas  Hutchinson. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §  53,—  Contemporaries,  II.  §§  37,  130-152, 

—  Source  Readers,  II.  §§  33,  45-51  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Charters, 
nos.  53,  55-71 ;  Hill,  Liberty  Documents,  ch.  xii. ;  American  His- 
tory Leaflets,  nos.  21,  33;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  41,  68;  Cald- 
well, Survey,  43-68 ;  Johnston,  American  Orations,  I.  11-23 ; 
Fithian,  Journal.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus, 
318-325,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  76. 

Moore,  Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  American  Bevolution,  1-64  ; 
Raymond,'  Ballads  of  the  Bevolution,  3-55  ;  L.  M.Child,  The  Bebels 
(Boston)  ;  C.  C.  Coffin,  Daughters  of  the  Bevolution-,  Hawthorne, 
Edward  BandolpWs  Portrait,  —  Grandfather's  Chair,  pt.  iii. 
chs.  i.-vi. ;  D.  P.  Thompson,  Green  Mountain  Boys  ;  A.  E.  Barr, 
Bow  of  Orange  Bibbon  (N.Y.)  ;  Thackeray,  Virginians-,  Edmund 
Lawrence,  George  Stalden  ;  J.  K.  Cooke,  Virginian  Comedians,  — 
Fairfax,  —  Stories  of  the  Old  Dominion,  140-204. 

Winsor,  America,  VI.,  — Memorial  History  of  Boston,  III.; 
Wilson,  American  People,  II. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BIRTH  OF  A  NEW  NATION  (1774-1776) 

The  last  act  of  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives 
under  the  old  charter  was  to  propose  (June  17, 1774)  a  colonial 
congress,  already  informally  suggested  in  Virginia;  and        116.  The 
delegates  were  appointed  from  all  the  colonies,  except    ne"tual °q0^_ 
Georgia.     This  First  Continental  Congress  met,  Septem-  gress(1774i 
ber  5, 1774,  in  Carpenter's  Hall,  Philadelphia,  and  was  the  most 
distinguished  body  that  had  ever  gathered  in  America.    Among 
its  members  were  John  and  Samuel  Adams  of  Massachusetts, 
John  Jay  of  New  York,  John  Dickinson  of  Pennsylvania,  Ed- 
mund Randolph  and  Patrick  Henry  of  Virginia,  Charles  Carroll 
of  Maryland,  and  John  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina.      The  im- 
portant action  was  of  three  kinds :  — 

(1)  Congress  protested  in  dignified  and  loyal  phrases  against 
the  treatment  of  Massachusetts  and  of  the  colonies  in  general ; 
they  respectfully  petitioned  the  king  to  remove  their  griev- 
ances, and  they  sent  out  a  series  of  addresses  explaining  the 
situation.  Except  a  few  radicals,  of  whom  Samuel  Adams  was 
the  chief,  Congress  hoped  and  expected  that  Great  Britain 
would  yield  to  this  strong  and  united  protest. 

(2)  Congress  drew  up  a  Declaration  of  Rights  which  laid 
claim  to  the  liberties  and  immunities  of  Englishmen,  includ- 
ing a  "Right  of   Representation   ...   in  all  Cases  of 
Taxation  and  internal  Polity,  subject  only  to  the  Negative       Congress, 
of  their  Sovereign  " ;  and  they  enumerated  various  acts  of  i4ti<74 
Parliament    which   they   declared    were    "infringements    and 
violations  of  the  rights  of  the  colonists." 

149 


150 


REVOLUTION 


117.  War 

breaks  out 
in  Massa- 
chusetts 
(1775) 


(3)  On  October  20,  1774,  Congress  drew  up  the  "Associa- 
tion," which  was  an  agreement  for  a  boycott  on  an  immense 
scale :  no  British  goods  (including  slaves)  were  to  be  imported 
or  sold ;  and  after  September,  1775,  no  American  goods  were  to 
be  exported  to  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  or  the  British  West 
Indies.  It  was  signed  by  fifty-two  members  and  was  recom- 
mended to  all  the  colonies,  most  of  which  put  it  into  force. 
Since  no  action  by  the  colonies  could  take  away  the  legal  right 
of  the  people  to  buy,  import,  and  sell  British  goods,  the 
Association  could  be  enforced  only  by  violence.  From  north 
to  south  there  was  an  era  of  terrorism;  mob  methods  were 
called  in ;  and  he  was  a  fortunate  ship  captain  who,  having 
arrived  in  port  with  a  shipload  of  merchandise,  was  allowed 
even  to  sail  away  again  with  his  goods  on  board. 

Meanwhile  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massachusetts 
broke  off  relations  with  Governor  Gage,  organized  itself  as  a 
"  Provincial  Congress "  (October  7,  1774),  and  created  a 
Committee  of  Safety  under  the  chairmanship  of  John 
Hancock,  which  began  to  collect  military  supplies  and 
organize  "minutemen,"  ready  to  march  at  a  minute's 
notice.     To  break  up  the  preparations  of  the  colonists,  during 

the  winter  Gage  sent 


out  and  seized  powder 
and  arms  at  various 
places  near  Boston. 

In    the     night     of 

April  18,  1775,  Paul 

Revere      and      other 

swift  riders  galloped 

off  to  give  notice  that 

Vicinity  of  Boston.  British    troops    were 

on  the  march ;  the  object  was  to  capture  John  Hancock  and 

Samuel  Adams,  who  were  staying  at  Lexington,  and  to  destroy 

military  stores  at  Concord.     At  five  o'clock  of  the  morning  of 


7 

^y  vr,,. 

British  Route  ^1      l  Jffj3 ""        «^^ 

SCALE0FMIL6S    ,  J         ^^\^  *;- 


BIRTH   OF,  A  NEW  NATION 


151 


April  19,  1775,  the  British  van  of  six  companies  appeared  on 
the  green  at  Lexington  and  found  a  line  of  provincial  militia 
drawn  up.  To  this  day  it  is  uncertain  just  how  the  fight 
began ;  an  English  officer  who  was  present  at  the  battle  says, 
"  On  our  approach  they  dispersed  and  soon  after  firing  began ; 
but  which  party  fired  first  I  cannot  exactly  say,  as  our  troops 
rushed   on   shouting   and   huzzaing   previous    to    the   firing." 


Battle  of  Lexington,  April  19,  1775. 
From  Earl's  drawing,  made  a  few  days  later. 

When  the  smoke  cleared  away,  seven  patriots  were  found 
killed  and  nine  wounded.  The  responsibility  for  this  out- 
break of  open  war  goes  back  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  who 
had  forced  matters  to  this  issue ;  and  is  shared  by  men  like 
Samuel  Adams  and  Washington  who  were  ready  to  resist  the 
authority  of  the  mother  country  rather  than  yield  what  they 
felt  to  be  their  rights. 

From  Lexington  the  British  marched  seven  miles  to  Con- 
cord, where  a  body  of  militia  boldly  marched  down  to  oppose 


152 


REVOLUTION 


them,  and  beat  them  back  at  a  little  bridge  where  now  stands 
the  statue  of  the  minuteman. 


Emerson 


**  Here  once  the  embattled  farmers  stood 
And  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world." 


118.  Union 
in  the  Sec- 
ond Conti- 
nental 
Congress 
(1775) 


As  the  weary  British  troops 
returned  toward  Boston  they 
were  followed  and  harassed  by 
the  militia,  who  ambushed 
them  from  behind  the  road- 
side walls  and  fences.  With 
a  total  loss  of  273  British  to 
93  Americans,  the  British  at 
last  reached  the  shelter  of  the 
guns  from  their  ships. 

The  Continental  Congress 
of  1774  called  a  Second  Conti- 
nental Congress  to  meet 
in  Philadelphia,  May  10, 
1775.  It  came  together 
in  what  is  now  Inde- 
pendence Hall,  burning 
with  indignation  over  the  Lex- 
ington and  Concord  fight;  and 
speedily  found  itself  the  cen- 
ter of  organization  and  resist- 
ance for  the  thirteen  colonies. 
Without  any  formal  authority  from  the  colonial  governments, 
but  supported  by  their  good  will  and  assent,  Congress  made 
itself  a  national  government.  For  example,  from  May  to  July, 
1775,  it  forbade  certain  exportations,  ordered  a  state  of  defense, 
organized  a  post  office,  voted  an  American  continental  army, 
appointed  George  Washington  commander  in  chief,  authorized 
bills  of  credit,  sent  a  last  petition  to  the  king,  and  considered 
Franklin's  scheme  for  a  federal  constitution. 


The  Minuteman. 

Statue  by  Daniel  French,  on  site  of 

the  battle  of  Concord. 


BIRTH  OF  A   NEW   NATION  153 

Congress  also  went  into  the  minutiae  of  government.     For 
instance,  on  a  single  day  it  received  a  petition  from  a  loyalist 
parson  in  jail;  resolved  to  open  trade  with  the  non-British 
West  Indies ;  considered  a  report  on  a  French  artillery    Journals  0J 
officer;  advanced  $400  to  a  Canadian  prisoner;  appointed       Congress, 
a  committee  to  investigate  charges  against  a  military  offi- 
cer; and  fixed  the  pay  of  a  regimental  surgeon  at  $25  a  month. 

Immediately   after   the   battle   of    Lexington,   virtual   war 

began  throughout  the  thirteen  colonies,  for  the  people  of  the 

middle  and   southern  colonies   showed  their  sympathy        U9  The 

with  Massachusetts  by  driving  out  their  governors  and         issue  of 
.      .   .  ,  ,.  ,  •   i     force  (1775) 

setting  up  provincial  congresses  and  conventions  winch 

assumed  the  government.  The  four  other  continental  colo- 
nies, Quebec,  Nova  Scotia,  East  Florida,  and  West  Florida, 
had  few  English-speaking  people  and  did  not  join  in  the 
revolution,  though  repeatedly  invited  to  do  so. 

The  British  government  met  the  issue  of  war  before  it  came, 
when  Parliament  (February  2,  1775)  declared   that  rebellion 
existed.      The  farthest  point  of  conciliation  offered  by  Par- 
liament was  Lord  North's   resolution,  to  the   effect  that  no 
taxes  should  be  laid  on  the  colonies  if  they  would  provide  a 
revenue  of  their  own  for  the  common  defense.     The  American 
formal  declaration  of  war  was  a  vote  of  Congress  setting    Journah  of 
forth    the  necessity  of  their   taking   up  arms.      "Our       Congress, 
cause  is  just,"  said  they.     "  Our  Union  is  perfect.     Our    July  6>  17 
internal  resources  are  great,  and,  if  necessary,  foreign  Assist- 
ance is  undoubtedly  attainable." 

After  the  battle  of  Lexington  and  Concord,  the  New  Eng- 
land militia  streamed  into  Cambridge,  and  Gage  was  formally 
besieged  in  Boston.     Ethan  Allen  of  Vermont,  without       120.  Can- 
waiting  for  anybody's  authority,  surprised  and  captured         Boston 
the  great  fortress  of  Ticonderoga  (May  10,  1775),  with  (1775-1776) 
an  invaluable  store  of  powder  and  other  munitions ;  and  that 
winter  forty  great  guns  from  the  fort  were  dragged  across  New 


154  DEVOLUTION 

England  to  give  indispensable  aid  in  the  siege  of  Boston.  The 
road  was  now  open  directly  into  Canada,  where  the  French 
were  supposed  to  be  ready  to  throw  off  allegiance  to  Great 
Britain.  In  the  fall  of  1775  an  expedition  under  Montgomery 
took  Montreal;  and  another  under  Benedict  Arnold  was  joined 
by  Montgomery  but  just  failed  of  taking  Quebec.  The  Ca- 
nadians held  off,  for  they  did  not  understand  this  form  of 
friendship,  and  had  no  mind  to  exchange  distant  British  rulers 
for  neighboring  American  masters,  especially  since  the  Quebec 
Act  of  1774  gave  them  religious  freedom  and  an  acceptable 
government. 

The  siege  of  Boston  was  enlivened  June  17,  1775,  by  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  The  Americans,  under  Israel  Putnam 
and  William  Prescott,  made  the  bold  attempt  to  fortify  the 
high  ground  back  of  Charlestown,  commanding  Boston.  They 
fortified  Breeds  Hill,  were  ill  supplied  with  ammunition,  lost 
their  popular  general  Joseph  Warren,  and  were  finally  driven 
out  of  their  intrenchments  by  the  third  desperate  assault  of 
the  British.  It  was  one  of  the  dearest  of  victories,  for  the 
British  lost  over  1000  troops  out  of  3000  engaged,  and 
gained  no  new  ground. 

Congress  had  already  taken  charge  of  the  siege  and  appointed 
a  new  commander  in  chief,  George  Washington,  who,  July  3, 
1775,  drew  up  the  troops  on  Cambridge  Common,  read  to 
them  his  commission,  and  took  formal  command.  He  pro- 
ceeded to  reorganize  the  force,  and,  to  use  his  own  phrase, 
"  gave  a  pretty  good  slam  "  to  some  of  the  militia  generals. 
Gradually  troops  arrived  from  the  middle  and  southern  col- 
onies. Washington  seized  the  commanding  position  of  Dor- 
chester Heights,  and  on  March  17,  1776,  compelled  the  British 
army,  still  numbering  10,000  soldiers  and  sailors,  to  go  on 
board  the  fleet,  together  with  their  loyalist  friends ;  and 
presently  they  sailed  away  to  Halifax. 

Up  to  1776  the  theory  of  the  Americans  was  that  they  were 


BIRTH   OF   A  NEW  NATION  155 

fighting  simply  to  compel  the  British  to  return  to  the  legal 
principles  of  colonial  government ;  they  still  hoped  for  an        121.  Ex- 
honorable  settlement  of  the  trouble.    As  the  war  went  on,      P°^ents  <>* 

7        mdepend. 

they  lost  their  habitual  loyalty  to  the  sovereign  and  be-  ence 

gan  to  accuse  George  III.  of  all  kinds  of  gross  tyranny,  and  to 
think  of  independence. 

One  of  the  great  champions  of  independence  was  Patrick 
Henry  of  Virginia,  a  passionate,  impulsive,  fiery  man,  with 
a  reputation  for  surpassing  oratory.  It  is  a  well-founded 
tradition  that  in  the  Virginia  Assembly  in  1774  he  exclaimed, 
"Caesar  had  his  Brutus;  Charles  I.  his  Cromwell;  and  George 
III. — "  "Treason,"  shouted  the  Speaker.  "  Treason,  treason," 
rose  from  all  sides  of  the  room,  — "  and  George  III.  may  profit 
by  their  example.  If  this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it." 
As  a  member  of  the  First  Continental  Congress,  Patrick  Henry 
foresaw  independence.  "  Government  is  dissolved,"  said  he. 
"Fleets  and  armies  and  the  present  state  of  things  show  that 
government  is  dissolved.  ...  I  am  not  a  Virginian,  but  an 
American;"  and  in  the  Virginia  convention  of  1775  he  made 
a  magnificent  speech  ending  with  the  oft-quoted  passage,  "I 
know  not  what  course  others  may  take;  but  as  for  me,  give 
me  liberty,  or  give  me  death." 

In  the  North  the  greatest  exponent  of  independence  was  the 
astute  political  leader  Samuel  Adams  of  Massachusetts,  the 
first  man  to  discover  how  much  may  be  done  in  a  democracy 
by  organizing  the  voters  and  by  preparing  work  for  town 
meetings  and  assemblies  through  caucuses  and  private  meet- 
ings. He  induced  Boston  to  take  strong  ground  in  the  quarrel 
with  England ;  in  1768  he  conceived  the  idea  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts circular  letter  (§  110),  the  beginning  of  common  action 
among  the  colonies.  He  afterward  said  that  at  this  time  he 
had  made  up  his  mind  that  independence  was  the  only  remedy. 
In  the  Massachusetts  legislature  he  invented  the  Committee  of 
Correspondence  in  1772  (§  113),  and  was  himself  the  most 


156 


REVOLUTION 


active  member.  Governor  Hutchinson  called  him  "  Master  of 
the  Puppets."  He  pulled  the  wires  which  led  to  the  Boston 
Tea  Party ;  and  in 
Congress  he  labored 
unceasingly  for  inde- 
pendence. Though  he 
could  destroy,  he  did 
not  know  how  to  build 
up  a  state,  and  after 
1776  he  lived  for  the 
most  part  in  private, 
except  for  a  brief  pe- 
riod as  governor  of 
Massachusetts. 

The  first  public  sug- 
gestions that  the  Brit- 
122.  Pre-  ish  rule  had  ceased 
liminaries  were  made  in 
of  inde- 
pendence votes  of  local  con- 
(1775-1776)  ventions,     among  Samuel  Adams,  about  1780. 

them  one  in  Mecklen-  From  the  portrait  h*  Copley* 

burg  County,  North  Carolina  (May,  1775).  Congress  waited 
to  see  the  result  of  their  appeal  to  the  king.  When  news 
came  (November  1, 1775)  that  the  king  would  not  even  receive 
it,  the  hope  of  any  settlement  inside  the  British  Empire  died 
away.  In  January,  1776,  appeared  the  first  widely  read  and 
effective  argument  on  this  subject  —  Thomas  Paine's  ringing 
pamphlet,  Common  Sense,  an  arsenal  of  arguments  against 
England  and  against  reconciliation.  "  The  birth  day  of  a  new 
world  is  at  hand,"  exclaimed  Paine ;  "  and  a  race  of  men  .  .  . 
are  to  receive  their  portion  of  freedom."  Congress  began  to 
take  bold  ground.  In  March,  it  ordered  American  ports  thrown 
open  to  all  foreign  nations,  issued  letters  of  marque  to  priva- 
teers, and  advised  all  the  colonies  to  disarm  the  Tories. 


BIRTH   OF  A  NEW  NATION  15? 

Rapidly  the  idea  of  a  formal  public  declaration  of  independ- 
ence by  Congress  took  root;  and  from  March  to  May,  1776, 
four  provincial  congresses  instructed  their  delegates  to  vote 
for  the  suppression  of  all  forms  of  royal  authority.  May  15, 
on  motion  of  John  Adams,  Congress  voted  that  all  British 
authority  in  the  colonies  ought  to  be  legally  suppressed.  June  7, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  under  instructions  from  his  colony  of 
Virginia,  introduced  a  resolution  for  independence,  and  also 
looking  to  a  formal  union ;  and  two  committees  were  appointed 
(June  10-12),  one  to  draft  a  declaration  of  independence,  the 
other  to  prepare  articles  of  confederation.  The  question  of 
independence  was  postponed,  to  enable  delegates  to  receive 
instructions  from  home,  for,  as  Franklin  dryly  remarked, 
"We  must  all  hang  together  or  we  shall  all  hang  Franklin, 
separately."  II  360 

The  first  committee  appointed  as  a  consequence  of  Lee's 

resolution  comprised  Thomas  Jefferson,  a  young  delegate  from 

Virginia,  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sher-  123.  Decla- 

man,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston.     To  Jefferson  was  given  ration  of  In- 

,      _  ..  °  dependence 

the  delicate  task  of  drawing  up  a  public  statement  of  the  (1776) 

reasons  for  war  and  separation.  Fortunately  he  had  a  ready 
pen,  and  his  mind  was  full  of  principles  of  free  government, 
which  were  not  peculiar  to  the  colonies,  but  were  the  com- 
mon property  of  the  English  race,  and  had  been  in  part  put 
in  form  by  the  English  philosophers  Locke  and  Hobbes.  He 
threw  his  Declaration  of  Independence  into  three  parts  :  — 

(1)  An  announcement  of  political  principles  applying  to 
all  mankind,  stated  in  the  form  of  certain  "self-evident 
truths,"  such  as  "that  all  men  are  created  equal;  that 
they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable 
rights;  that  among  these  are  Life,  Liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  Happiness.  That  to  secure  these  rights,  Govern- 
ments are  instituted  among  Men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 


158 


REVOLUTION 


(2)  A  list  of  twenty-seven  grievances,  partly  directed  to  illegal 
acts,  but  most  of  them  charging  the  British  government  with 
unjustly  exercising  powers  till  then  accepted  as  legal. 

(3)  The  ringing  statement  that  "  These  United  Colonies  are, 
and  of  Right  ought  to  be,  Free  and  Independent  States." 

The  declaration  thus  prepared  was  reported  on  June  28,  and 
was  for  some  days  debated  and  slightly  amended.     Meanwhile 


Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  built  in  1735. 
Meeting  place  of  the  Continental  Congress.    From  an  old  print. 

the  postponed  resolution  of  independence  (§  122)  was  formally 

adopted,  July  2.     John  Adams  has  left  us  his  impressions  of 

this  momentous  act.      "  The  second  day  of  July,  1776,  will  be 

.  _  the  most  memorable  epocha  in  the  history  of  America.  .  .  . 

Adams,  L  J 

Works,  IX.     It  ought  to  be  commemorated,  as  a  day  of  deliverance,  by 

solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty.     It  ought  to 

be  solemnized  with   pomp   and   parade,  with  shows,  games, 

sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and  illuminations,  from  one  end  of 


420 


BIRTH   OF   A   NEW   NATION  159 

this  continent  to  the  other,  from  this  time  forward,  forever- 
more."  On  July  4,  1776,  Jefferson's  draft  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  was  adopted  as  amended.  On  August  2, 
an  engrossed  copy  (still  preserved  in  Washington)  was  laid 
before  Congress  and  the  members  then  in  Congress  affixed 
their  names  to  this  document,  although  in  the  eye  of  English 
law  every  signer  was  a  traitor  and  subject  to  a  traitor's  doom. 
For  a  time  the  Declaration  fell  heavy  on  the  people  of 
America;  it  seemed  too  bold,  too  thoroughgoing;  it  shut  the 
door  of  reconciliation ;  and  nothing  but  hard  fighting  could 
give  the  proof  that  the  colonies  were  really  "  free  and  independ- 
ent states."  Even  the  flag  of  an  independent  nation  was  not 
adopted  until  the  following  June.  But  the  Declaration  com- 
pelled every  thinking  man  once  for  all  to  choose  either  Parlia- 
ment or  Congress;  and  it  announced  to  foreign  nations  the 
purpose  of  the  Americans  to  do  or  die. 

"  The  Union  is  older  than  any  of  the  States,"  said  Abraham 
Lincoln  in  1861,  "  and  in  fact  it  created  them  as  States."       ^ 
He  meant  to  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  Second  Conti-         Leaflets, 
nental  Congress  organized  a  national  government  before 
new  state  governments  came  into  being.     The  provincial       mation°of 
congresses,  from  which  all  those  who  protested  against      the  states 
the  Eevolution  were  shut  out,  felt  that  they  were  only 
temporary,  and  several  of  them  applied  to  the  Continental  Con- 
gress to  know  what  to  do.     Congress  waited  till  November  3, 
1775,  when  it  advised  the  people  of  New  Hampshire  to  estab- 
lish a  government ;  and  early  in  1776  the  New  Hampshire  con- 
vention adopted  the  first  state  constitution.      Shortly  after, 
South  Carolina  adopted   a  constitution,  while  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut  thought  they  could  get  on  with 
their  old  colonial  charters,  slightly  modified. 

On  May  10, 1776,  Congress  gave  general  advice  to  the  states  to 
form  such  governments  as  will  "best  conduce  to  the  happiness 
and  safety  of  their  constituents  in  particular,  and  America  in 
hart's  amer.  hist.  — 10 


160  REVOLUTION 

general."  Thereupon  the  remaining  eight  colonies  (and  also 
Vermont)  all  adopted  written  constitutions  during  1776  and 
1777.  Massachusetts  followed  in  1780  with  the  first  state  con- 
stitution submitted  to  popular  vote.  With  many  variations  in 
detail  these  important  documents  agree  in  their  general  form  and 
spirit.  (1)  Each  contained  a  bill  of  rights — that  is,  a  statement 
of  the  liberties  of  the  individual.  (2)  Each  provided  for  a  repre- 
sentative republican  government,  including  three  departments, 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial.  All  the  states  except  two 
created  a  legislature  of  two  houses ;  in  all,  the  legislature  was 
the  most  powerful  part  of  the  system  ;  all  the  states  except 
Pennsylvania  had  a  single  governor,  chosen  by  popular  vote 
or  by  the  legislature.  (3)  None  of  the  constitutions  were 
strongly  democratic  according  to  our  ideas,  for  the  suffrage  was 
limited  to  property  owners  or  taxpayers ;  and  most  of  the  states 
had  also  religious  and  property  qualifications  for  office  holders. 

(4)  In  the  fear  of  military  and  centralized  government,  all 
the  constitutions  fixed  short  terms  for  all   elective   officers. 

(5)  Several  of  them  provided  a  method  of  easy  amendment,  and 
within  ten  years  some  of  the  first  constitutions  were  entirely 
recast.  (6)  All  these  state  constitutions  directly  or  indirectly 
recognized  that  there  would  be  a  permanent  general  congress. 

The  idea  of  statehood  and  membership  in  the  Union  spread 
into  the  West.     In  1775  Richard  Henderson  of  Virginia,  with 
125.  Fron-     Daniel  Boone  as  his  right-hand  man,  set  up  the  Transyl- 
n\ties0inmU"  vania  Company,  and  bought  from  the  Cherokees  the  tract 
(1775-1777)   between  the  Cumberland  and  Kentucky  rivers  (map,  p. 
181).    Boone  was  sent  ahead  and  blazed  out  a  pack  trail  known 
as  the  Wilderness  Road,  from  the  Holston  (upper  Tennessee) 
through   Cumberland   Gap  to   Kentucky.     The   new   settlers 
founded  Boonsboro  and  other  settlements,  and  actually  set  up 
a  government  by  a  delegate  convention.     Governor  Martin  of 
North  Carolina  violently  opposed  what  he  called  this  "infa- 
mous company  of  land  pirates  "  j  but  after  his  expulsion  the 


BIRTH  OF  A   NEW  NATION  161 

settlement  applied  to  Congress  to  admit  it  as  a  state.     The 
people  of  the  Vandalia  region  in  1776  also  petitioned  Con- 
gress  to  make  them   "a   sister   colony   and   fourteenth.      Am  Hist 
province  of  the  American  confederacy."     Both  applica-  Review, 

tions  were  distasteful  to  Virginia,  which  in  1776  organized 
Kentucky  County,  with  a  county  seat  at  Harrodsburg,  and  put 
an  end  to  the  Transylvania  government. 

One  new  community  succeeded  in  organizing  itself  without 
the  leave  either  of  the  parent  state  or  of  Congress.  The  people 
of  the  "New  Hampshire  Grants,"  a  tract  assigned  by  the  Brit- 
ish government  to  New  York,  revolted  from  New  York,  named 
themselves  Vermont,  set  up  their  own  constitution  (1777),  and 
kept  up  an  independent  government  for  fourteen  years. 

Never  for  a  moment  did  the  friends  of  independence  expect 
the  states  to  remain  separate  and  disorganized.  Already  (July 
21, 1775)  Benjamin  Franklin  had  propounded  to  Congress  126.  Arti- 
a  plan  of  union  somewhat  resembling  his  old  draft  in  ^deration 
the  Albany  congress.  In  brief  outline  he  proposed  (1775-1778) 
(1)  a  common  treasury  to  be  supported  by  contributions  from 
the  colonies;  (2)  a  Congress  with  representation  in  propor- 
tion to  the  population ;  (3)  national  control  of  boundaries, 
of  peace,  of  new  colonies,  and  of  Indians.  The  second  com- 
mittee appointed  as  a  result  of  Kichard  Henry  Lee's  resolution 
of  June  7  reported  (July  12,  1776)  a  draft  of  a  confederation 
from  the  hand  of  John  Dickinson;  but  Congress  found  in  it 
many  subjects  for  disagreement  —  for  instance,  should  the 
states  be  represented  in  proportion  to  population  ?  Should 
slave  property  be  taxed  ?  Should  Congress  regulate  foreign 
commerce  ?    Should  Congress  control  the  West  ? 

Congress  completed  its  draft  of  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion November  15, 1777,  and  sent  it  out  to  the  states  for  ratifica- 
tion; but  it  was  much  weaker  than  Franklin's  proposition. 
(1)  It  emphasized  the  sovereignty,  freedom,  and  independence 
of  the  states.     (2)  Each  state  in  the  confederation  was  to  have 


162 


REVOLUTION 


one  vote  in  Congress.  (3)  Taxes  were  to  be  apportioned  accord- 
ing to  the  value  of  land  in  each  state  (a  method  which  later 
proved  impracticable).  (4)  No  direct  authority  was  given  to 
Congress  for  the  settlement  of  boundary  disputes,  or  for  the 
planting  of  new  colonies. 

Ratifications  came  in  slowly:  after  eight  months  only  ten 
states  had  approved ;  three  states,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and 
Maryland,  stood  out  because  Congress  was  to  have  no  power  to 
cut  down  the  claims  of  Virginia  to  western  lands ;  and  three 
years  passed  before  they  all  yielded. 


The  change  from  colonies  to  an  independent  nation  began 
in  1774  with  a  general  feeling  of  wrath  over  the  British  coer- 
127.  Sum-     ciye  ac*s  which  had  been  aimed  at  Massachusetts.     The 
mary  Yivst  Continental  Congress  of  1774  expressed  the  com- 

mon resentment,  and  in  the  Association  attacked  the  "  pocket 

nerve  "  of  the  British  mer- 
chants and  made  the  first 
general  regulation  of  com- 
merce by  America.  To 
carry  it  out,  however,  mob 
violence  was  called  in, 
and  thus  the  Revolution 
began  in  disorder.  The 
people  of  Massachusetts 
organized  a  revolutionary 
government  of  their  own, 
and  it  was  only  a  ques- 
tion of  time  when  the  two 
parties  would  attack  each 
other. 

The   moment  came  on 

A  Tough  Old  Patriot.  April  19,  1775,  at  Lexing- 

Monument  in  Arlington  (then  Menotomy).       ton.     The  actual  shedding 


NEAR  THIS  SPOT 

SAMUEL  WH1TTEM0RE. 

THEN  00  YEARS  OLD 

KiLLEQ  THREE  BRITISH  SOt-DIE' 

APRIL  13  1775. 

.  HE  WAS  SHOT. BAYONETED. 

BEATEN  AN2  LEFT  FOR  OEAB 

BUT  RECOVERED  AND  LIVED 

TO  3E  98  YEARS  OF 


BIRTH   OF   A  NEW   NATION  163 

of  blood  by  the  troops  and  by  the  Americans  raised  an  issue 
which  the  other  colonies  must  either  take  up  or  drop,  and 
nobly  and  unselfishly  they  took  it  up.  While  Boston  was  be- 
sieged and  Canada  invaded,  the  Second  Continental  Congress 
in  May,  1775,  began  to  act  as  a  national  government,  and 
speedily  organized  an  army  and  a  navy,  appointed  a  com- 
mander in  chief,  issued  paper  money,  and  took  steps  to  form 
relations  with  foreign  countries. 

Unless  the  colonists  were  willing  to  yield,  they  had  to 
declare  themselves  independent.  The  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence of  July  4,  1776,  was  followed  by  a  scheme  of  federal 
government,  but  the  real  beginning  of  the  United  States  had 
been  in  1775,  when  Congress  by  general  consent  began  to 
legislate  for  the  concerns  of  the  whole  people. 

TOPICS 

(!)  Was  the  Association  of  1774  a  good  method  of  protest?  Suggestive 
(2)  How  was  the  patriot  government  of  Massachusetts  organized 
in  1774  ?  (3)  Make  a  list  of  previous  instances  of  resistance  by  the 
colonists  to  British  authority.  (4)  What  did  the  Committees  of 
Correspondence  do  for  the  American  cause  ?  (5)  How  did  the 
Second  Continental  Congress  feel  about  the  fight  at  Lexington 
and  Concord  ?  (6)  Make  a  list  of  instructions  of  the  state  legisla- 
tures to  vote  for  independence.  (7)  History  of  the  United  States 
flag.  (8)  What  do  we  know  of  the  debate  on  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  ?  (9)  What  objections  were  there  to  ratifying  the 
Articles  of  Confederation?  (10)  Why  did  the  British  evacuate 
Boston  ?  (11)  Proceedings  in  Congress  July  2,  1776  — also  July  4. 
(12)  Why  were  people  ready  for  independence  in  1776  and  not  in 
1775? 

(13)  Revolutionary  town  meetings.  (14)  Sons  of  Liberty.  Search 
(15)  A  revolutionary  mob.  (16)  Contemporary  accounts  of  topics 
the  Lexington  and  Concord  fight.  (17)  Enforcement  of  the 
Association.  (18)  Opinions  of  John  Adams  on  Congress. 
(19)  Did  Washington  take  command  of  the  army  at  Cambridge 
under  the  tree  now  called  the  Washington  Elm  ?  (20)  Samuel 
Adams's  opinions  of  independence.  (21)  Where  did  Jefferson 
get  his  ideas  for  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ?     (22)  Hender- 


164 


REVOLUTION 


son's  Transylvania  Company.  (23)  Contemporary  accounts  of 
Bunker  Hill.  (24)  The  Mecklenburg  (N.C.)  Declaration  of  1775. 
(25)  Expulsion  of  the  royal  governors  of  the  colonies.  (26)  Why 
did  the  invasion  of  Canada  fail  ?  (27)  Facts  which  justify  some 
of  the  charges  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


REFERENCES 


Geography 

Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


See  maps,  pp.  131,  168,  181. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  31-39 ;  Sloane,  French  War 
and  Revolution,  173-237  ;  Channing,  United  States,  67-87  ;  Van 
Tyne,  American  Revolution,  chs.  i.-v.,—  Loyalists ;  Fiske,  Revo- 
lution, I.  100-146  ;  Trevelyan,  American  Revolution,  pt.  i.  193- 
411,  pt.  ii.  1. 1-171 ;  Gay,  Bryant's  History,  III.  377-450,  470-489  ; 
Earned,  History  for  Ready  Reference,  III.  2337,  IV.  2375,  V.  3214, 
3244,  3635  ;  Cambridge  Modern  History,  VII.  160-174,  207-210, 
235-243  ;  Greene,  Revolution,  67-136  ;  McCrady,  South  Carolina, 
II.  733-798,  III.  1-185  ;  Tyler,  Revolution  (literary),  I.  267-521, 
—  Patrick  Henry,  101-213;  Sparks,  Men  who  made  the  Nation, 
72-118;  Morse,  John  Adams,  1-127,  —  Benjamin  Franklin,  204- 
219  ;  Hosmer,  Samuel  Adams,  260-337  ;  Lodge,  George  Washing- 
ton, I.   128-157;   Thwaites,  Daniel  Boone,  113-128. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  54-58,  —  Contemporaries,  II.  §§  153-158, 
184-192,  —  Source  Readers,  II.  §§  51-54v  56-58,  77,  78 ;  Mac- 
Donald,  Select  Charters,  nos.  72-80,—  Select  Documents,  nos.  1,  2; 
Hill,  Liberty  Documents,  chs.  xiii.-xv.  ;  American  History  Leaflets, 
nos.  11,  14,  20  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  2,  3,  47,  86.  See  N.  Eng. 
Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  325-330,  —  Historical  Sources, 
§77. 

Matthews,  Poems  of  American  Patriotism,  8-45  ;  Eggleston, 
American  War  Ballads,  I.  23-39  ;  Moore,  Songs  and  Ballads  of 
the  American  Revolution,  65-129,  139-149 ;  Raymond,  Ballads  of  the 
Revolution,  55-87  ;  Longfellow,  Paul  Revere's  Ride  ;  Lowell,  Con- 
cord Ode,—  Ode  for  the  Fourth  of  July,  1876;  Bryant,  Green 
Mountain  Boys;  Holmes,  Grandmother's  Story  of  Bunker  Hill; 
Hawthorne,  Septimus  Felton  (Concord),  —  My  Kinsman,  Major 
Molineux  (mob),  —  Howe's  Masquerade,  —  Grandfather's  Chair, 
pt.  iii.  chs.  vii.-xi. ;  Cooper,  Lionel  Lincoln  (Boston) ;  J.  E. 
Cooke,  Henry  St.  John,  Gentleman  (Valley  of  Virginia),  —  Stories 
of  the  Old  Dominion,  205-218. 

Winsor,  America,  VI.,  —  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  III.  ; 
Wilson,  American  People,  II. 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  (1776-1783) 

When  war  came,  Great  Britain  seemed  to  have  an  over- 
whelming superiority  over  America  in  men  and  resources.  A 
small  and  vigorous  governing  class,  consisting  only  of  a        128  The 

few  hundred  families  of  landholders,  furnished  almost  rival 

-,  peoples 

all  members  of  Parliament  and  officers  of  the  army  and 

navy.  In  this  aristocracy  the  central  figure  was  King  George 
III.,  who,  from  day  to  day,  gave  his  personal  directions  to 
Lord  North,  the  prime  minister,  for  the  management  of  Par- 
liament. A  good  husband  and  father  in  an  age  of  vice,  a  kind- 
hearted  friend,  a  king  who  meant  well  by  his  subjects,  George 
III.  was  still  a  narrow,  obstinate,  and  ill-informed  man.  The 
aggressive  force  of  England  was,  moreover,  weakened  because 
several  liberal  statesmen  sided  with  the  colonies.  Among 
them  the  Earl  of  Chatham  solemnly  demanded  of  his  country- 
men "  a  formal  acknowledgement  of  our  errors,  and  a  renunci- 
ation of  our  unjust,  ill-founded,  and  oppressive  claims." 

Against  the  might  of  Great  Britain  was  opposed  a  poor 
country,  with  no  manufactures  of  iron  or  cloth,  unable  to 
make  a  musket  or  cast  a  cannon.  Yet  America  was  a  land 
of  comfort  and  prosperity.  Lafayette  wrote  of  it,  "  Sim-  contempora- 
neity of  manners,  kindness,  love  of  country  and  of  lib-  nes' IL  486 
erty,  and  a  delightful  equality  everywhere  prevails.  .  .  All 
the  citizens  are  brethren.  In  America  there  are  no  poor,  or 
even  what  we  call  peasantry."  Even  during  the  war  the 
colonists  made,  money  from  privateering  and  West  Indian 
and  European  trade,  and  bought  the  necessary  materials  of 
war  with  their  exports. 

165 


166  REVOLUTION 

The  serious  weakness  of  the  Americans  was  that  they  were 
divided;  John  Adams  later  estimated  that  fully  a  third  of 
129  The       *^e  Pe°ple  were  opposed  to  war,  and  still  more  strongly 
American      opposed  to  independence.      The  years   1775   and   1776 
y  were  full  of  commotion,  tumult,  and   violence   against 

the  loyalists.  Those  Americans  who  still  maintained  that  the 
British  government  was  not  tyrannical  were  intimidated, 
arrested,  imprisoned,  tarred  and  feathered,  and  in  some  cases 
executed.  As  the  struggle  grew  fiercer,  the  colonists  passed 
laws  banishing  the  loyalists  or  confiscating  their  property. 
In  many  districts  the  struggle  was  a  civil  war  in  which  hun- 
dreds  of  the  Tories,  as  the  loyalists  were  called,  were  kept  down 
by  force.  The  Tories  included  in  the  New  England  and  mid- 
die  commonwealths  most  of  the  well-to-do  classes,  the  former 
colonial  officials  and  their  friends,  old  officers  of  the  British 
army,  many  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  graduates  of  colleges. 
In  some  states  nearly  half  the  people  were  loyalists.  Thou- 
sands of  them  entered  the  British  army  and  fought  against 
their  brethren;  and  thousands  of  families  removed  to  Nova 
Scotia,  Quebec,  and  other  British  colonies. 

The  British  were  overwhelmingly  superior  in  the  size  of 
their  military  and  naval  forces,  although  much  hampered  by 
130.  The  the  necessity  of  transporting  men  and  materials  across 
rival  forces  a  st0rmy  sea.  In  1776  they  had  200  ships  of  war,  and 
for  men  they  drew  on  11,000,000  people  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  besides  the  loyalists.  Yet  Lord  North  committed 
the  stupid  blunder  of  hiring  30,000  Hessians,  who  had  no 
personal  interest  in  the  struggle,  and  were  leased  by  their 
princes  like  so  many  cattle.  "Were  I  an  American,"  said 
Chatham,  "  as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  foreign  troop  was 
landed  in  my  country,  I  never  would  lay  down  my  arms  — 
never  —  never  —  never";  and  Franklin  wrote  grimly,  "The 
German  auxiliaries  are  certainly  coming;  it  is  our  business 
to  prevent  their  returning." 


THE    WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE  167 

Out  of  the  3,000,000  people  in  the  colonies,  the  Tories 
and  negroes  numbered  at  least  1,200,000.  There  were  from 
300,000  to  400,000  able-bodied  patriots,  of  whom  perhaps 
150,000  served  in  the  army  at  one  time  or  another;  but  they 
probably  never  numbered  more  than  40,000  men  under  arms 
at  one  time,  and  sometimes  the  total  force  available  for  striking 
a  blow  was  not  above  5000.  Besides  troops  of  English  de- 
scent, there  were  many  Germans,  Irish,  and  Scotch,  some  Dutch, 
Jews,  French,  and  Welsh,  and  several  thousand  negroes, 
especially  from  Rhode  Island.  Both  sides  made  the  moral 
and  military  mistake  of  enlisting  Indian  allies;  the  Amer- 
icans were  first  to  seek  this  dubious  aid ;  the  British  used  it 
most  effectively. 

The  main  difficulty  with  the  army  was  that  the  states 
insisted  on  furnishing  militia  on  short  terms  of  service, 
instead  of  allowing  Congress  to  form  a  sufficient  regular  force 
with  national  officers,  enlisted  for  the  war.  Washington  said 
of  the  militia,  "The  system  appears  to  have  been  pernicious 
beyond  description.  ...  It  may  be  easily  shown,  that  alMhe 
misfortunes  we  have  met  with  in  the  military  line  are  to  be 
attributed  to  this  cause." 

Many  soldiers  of  fortune  drifted  over  from  Europe  to  seek 
employment,  besides  Lafayette,  a  French  nobleman,  who 
brought  his  own  enthusiasm  and  the  silent  support  of  the 
French  government;  the  German  Baron  von  Steuben,  an 
excellent  soldier,  skillfully  drilled  the  troops  and  introduced 
improved  tactics;  the  Poles  Kosciusko  and  Pulaski  and  the 
French  general  De  Kalb  were  gallant  soldiers. 

After  a  year  of  preparation,  the  British  dispatched  a  fleet 
to  take  Charleston,  but  it  was  beaten  off  (June  28,  1776)  by 
the  gallantry  of  Colonel  Moultrie,  in  a  fight  signalized      131.  Long 
by  the  heroism  of  Sergeant  Jasper.     The  main  attack         Trenton 
was  on  New  York,  near  which  Sir  William  Howe  landed  (1776-1777) 
with  20,000  men  on  Long  Island  (August  22).     Washington 


76 


REVOLUTIONARY  WAR 
IN  THE  NORTH 

SCALE  OF  MILES 

6  Tb         So         ?5         100 
— —  Washington's  Route 
Routes  of  the  British 


SCALE  OF  MILES 
6     5    10        20 


L.L.PO»TES,-ENG'l 


76     Longitude       West 


16.8 


THE   WAR  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


169 


had  never  before  maneuvered  an  army  in  the  field  or  defended 
a  country  j  his  force  of  18,000  men  was  badly  defeated  (August 
27),  and  only  Howe's  slowness  enabled 
him  to  escape  across  the  East  River  to 
New  York.  The  British  maneuvered 
him  out  of  the  city,  fought  a  successful 
battle  at  White  Plains  (October  28),  and 
soon  after  captured  Fort  Washington 
on  the  north  end  of  Manhattan  Island, 
with  3000  prisoners. 

Washington  was  forced  back  across 
New  Jersey  and  the  Delaware,  his  army 
sometimes  falling  below  3000  troops; 
for  Charles  Lee,  a  former  British  officer, 
in  command  of  7000  men,  for  a  time  dis- 
obeyed orders  to  come  to  his  aid.  Al- 
most in  despair  Washington  wrote,  "  If 

every  nerve  is  not  strained  to  re-       1IT    ,. 
J  Washing- 

cruit  the  new  army  with  all  possi-  ton,  Works, 
ble  expedition,  I  think  the  game 
is  pretty  nearly  up."  But  for  the  heroic 
efforts  of  Robert  Morris,  a  wealthy  mer- 
chant of  Philadelphia,  who  raised  money  on  his  personal  credit 
to  keep  the  army  together,  the  Revolution  might  have  failed 
then  and  there. 

Washington's  indomitable  spirit  suddenly  turned  the  scale. 
To  prevent  the  British  following  him  to  Philadelphia  he  re- 
crossed  the  Delaware  in  boats  (December  26,  1776),  struck  the 
British  post  at  Trenton,  and  captured  1000  Hessians.  A  few 
days  later  he  successfully  attacked  the  British  at  Princeton 
(January  3,  1777),  so  that  they  withdrew  to  the  neighborhood 
of  New  York,  and  Washington  fortified  himself  at  Morristown, 
where  at  one  time  he  had  only  1500  men.  A  compensating 
British  victory  was  the  capture  of  Newport. 


473 


Statue  of  Sergeant 
Jasper  in  Charleston. 


170  REVOLUTION 

In  the  spring  of  1777  the  British  planned  three  lines  of 

attack,  intended  to  cut   New   England  off  from    the    middle 

132.  Bur-      colonies:  (1)  from  Lake  Champlain  to  the  Hudson  under 

campaign      General  John  Burgoyne;   (2)  from  Lake  Ontario  to  the 

(1777)  Mohawk  under  Colonel  St.  Leger ;   (3)  from  New  York 

up  the  river   under   Sir  William  Howe  to  join  the  northern 

forces.     In   June,    1777,    Burgoyne    started    southward   from 

Montreal  with   an  army   of  about  8000  men,  including  Hes- 

Moore,  sians;   and  he   put  forth  a  bombastic  proclamation,  in 

AmVRev        which  he  said,  "  I  have   but  to  give  stretch  to  the  In- 

1.454  dian  forces  under  my  direction,  .  .  .  and  the  messengers 

of  justice  and  wrath  await  them  in  the  field ;  and  devastation, 

famine,  and  every  concomitant  horror." 

Washington  was  unable  to  leave  Howe's  front,  and  Schuyler 
was  put  in  command  to  oppose  Burgoyne,  who  nevertheless 
easily  got  as  far  as  Fort  Edward.  Here  he  found  a  hornet's 
nest.  Men  poured  in  from  near-by  New  England  until  Schuy- 
ler had  nearly  twice  as  many  troops  as  Burgoyne,  and  General 
Stark  of  New  Hampshire  beat  part  of  the  British  forces  at 
Bennington  (August  16).  Meanwhile  the  British  expedition 
to  the  Mohawk  valley  under  Colonel  St.  Leger  got  no  farther 
than  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Stanwix,  because  of  the  skillful  prep- 
arations of  Schuyler  and  Benedict  Arnold  and  the  bravery  of 
General  Herkimer  at  the  battle  of  Oriskany.  General  Horatio 
Gates  was  now  put  in  command  of  the  American  northern 
army,  though  against  Washington's  judgment.  The  expected 
British  army  did  not  appear  from  the  lower  Hudson.  Most  of 
Burgoyne's  Indians  deserted,  and  the  British  lost  men  steadily 
in  battle  and  by  capture.  Burgoyne  was  at  last  confronted  by 
Arnold  and  others,  active  subordinates  of  the  apathetic  Gates, 
and,  after  two  hard  fights  at  Freeman's  Farm,  was  obliged  to 
surrender  his  whole  remaining  army  at  Saratoga,  October  17, 
1777  ;  the  prisoners  were  3500  British  and  Hessian  troops,  with 
2300  volunteers  and  camp  followers.     The  defeat  was  the  turn- 


THE    WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


171 


ing  point  of  the  war,  for  the  overthrow  of  the  boastful  procla- 
mation-maker gave  the  patriot  cause  new  life.  In  the  words 
of  a  popular  squib, 

"  Burgoyne,  alas  !  unknowing  future  fates, 
Could  force  his  way  through  woods,  but  not  through  Gates." 


Chew  House,  Germantown. 
Injured  by  cannon  balls  in  battle  of  Germantown,  1777 ;  still  standing. 

Probably  Howe  might  have  prevented  Burgoyne's  capture 
by  advancing  up  the  Hudson ;  but  he  was  induced  to  plan  a 
separate  campaign  for  the  occupation  of   Philadelphia.        133.  The 
In  August  he  landed  with  18,000  men  at  the  head  of      ^SSSo?" 
the  Chesapeake ;  Washington  with  his  11,000  men  was  phia  (1777) 
unable  to  stop  him,  and  was  defeated  in  a  pitched  battle  at  the 
river  Brandywine  (September  11,  1777).     Two  weeks  later  the 
British  occupied  Philadelphia,  and  Washington's  bold  attempt 
to  dislodge  them  by  a  surprise  at  Germantown  (October  4)  was 
a  failure. 


172  REVOLUTION 

Disregarding  the  military  maxim  that  the  object  of  cam- 
paigns is  to  destroy  the  enemy's  army,  Howe  was  content  to 
capture  the  lower  forts  and  thus  to  clear  the  Delaware  of  foes, 
and  he  then  sat  down  for  a  comfortable  winter  in  Philadelphia. 
Thousands  of  Jerseymen  and  Pennsylvanians  thought  the  war 
was  over  and  gave  in  their  allegiance;  but  Washington  did 
not  know  when  he  was  beaten,  and  took  up  winter  quarters 
at  Valley  Forge,  above  the  city,  on  the  Schuylkill  Kiver. 

Newport,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia  were  all  held  by  the 
British,  and  reinforcements  and  supplies  came  to  them  steadily 
134.  Valley  from  over  the  sea>  wnile  Washington's  army  at  Valley 
Forge  Forge  was  living  miserably  in  a  camp  village  of  log  huts. 

Fuel  was  plentiful,  but  food  and  clothing  were  scanty,  not 
because  there  was  any  scarcity  in  the  country,  but  because  so 
many  of  the  neighboring  people  were  disaffected,  and  the  roads 
were  so  bad  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  bring  supplies 
which  were  stored  only  a  few  miles  away.  At  one  time,  out 
of  a  force  of  at  most  11,000  men,  2898  were  reported  unable 
to  go  on  duty  for  want  of  clothing.  Yet  the  spirit  of  the 
Contempora-  troops  was  excellent,  as  one  of  the  officers  wrote :  "  See 
ries,  II.  56i  the  poor  Soldier  ...  if  barefoot  he  labours  thro'  the 
Mud  &  Cold  with  a  Song  in  his  Mouth  extolling  War  & 
Washington  —  if  his  food  be  bad  —  he  eats  it  notwithstand- 
ing with  seeming  content." 

One  cause  of  the  suffering  of  the  soldiers  was  the  bad  man- 
agement of  the  commissary  officers  ;  back  of  that  was  the  weak- 
ness of  Congress,  of  which  Alexander  Hamilton  said,  "  Their 
conduct,  with  respect  to  the  army  especially,  is  feeble,  indecisive 
and  improvident."  It  was  a  time  of  great  losses ;  nine  hundred 
American  merchant  vessels  had  already  been  taken  ;  thousands 
of  men  had  lost  their  lives  or  were  prisoners  in  barbarous  prison 
ships,  or  had  returned  home  wounded  or  diseased.  The  states 
hung  back,  each  hoping  that  other  states  would  furnish  the 
necessary  men,  and  therefore  Congress  lost  spirit  and  influence. 


THE    WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE  173 

The  one   beacon   light  which   shone   steadily  was  General 
George    Washington.      Every  other   Revolutionary   hero   and 
patriot  could  have  been  replaced;  Washington  alone  was   135  George 
the  indispensable  man.     He  was    a  Virginian,  and   his       Washing- 
appointment  gave  confidence  to  the  southern  states ;  he        essential 
was  a  soldier  who  outranked  in  service  and  experience  man 

nearly  all  the  other  officers  in  the  army ;  he  was  careful  of  his 
men ;  he  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  industry  and  mastery  of 
details,  keeping  up  correspondence  all  over  the  country.  As  a 
general  Washington  showed  a  splendid  pertinacity:  he  learned 
by  his  own  defeats ;  if  beaten  in  one  place,  he  would  reappear 
in  another.  He  was  extraordinarily  long-suffering  and  patient, 
and  he  had  a  magnificent  temper;  that  is,  though  naturally 
hot  and  impetuous,  he  kept  himself  under  rigid  control,  except 
when  a  crisis  came,  and  on  such  occasions,  a  contempo-  Ford,  Trv» 
rary  records,  "Washington  swore  like  an  angel  from  washin% 
heaven."  ton,  271 

Washington  bore  personal  slights  with  wonderful  dignity. 
He  wrote  to  Congress  of  "the  wounds  which  my  feelings  as 
an  officer  have  constantly  received  from  a  thousand  things, 
that  have  happened  contrary  to  my  expectation  and  wishes." 
Especially  did  he  shine  out  in  the  so-called  Conway  Cabal  of 
1778,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  put  Gates,  "the  hero  of 
Saratoga,"  over  his  head  The  cabal  fell  to  pieces  when 
a  letter  from  Conway  was  made  public,  in  which  he  said, 
"  Heaven  has  been  determined  to  save  your  country,  or  a  weak 
General  and  bad  counsellors  would  have  ruined  it."  Gates 
shortly  after  withdrew  from  command  in  the  field. 

After  all,  the  greatest  of  Washington's  qualities  was  a 
rugged  manliness  which  gave  him  the  respect  and  confidence 
even  of  his  enemies.  Though  he  was  at  the  head  of  a  military 
force,  nobody  ever  for  a  moment  believed  that  he  would  use  it 
to  secure  power  for  himself.  Wisdom,  patience,  and  personal 
influence  over  men  were  wonderfully  united  in  Washington  — 


174  REVOLUTION 

the  greatest  man  in  the  Revolution,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
Lincoln,  the  greatest  of  all  Americans. 

The  capture  of  Burgoyne  saved  the  republic,  because  it  made 
a  profound  impression  upon  the  French  government,  which  for 
136.  The       three  years  had  been  damaging  its  enemy,  Great  Britain, 
alliance         ^y  secret  aid  in  arms  and  money  to  the  revolted  colonies. 
(1775-1778)  In  1775  Silas  Deane  was  sent  over  to  France ;   he  was 
followed  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  who,  as  the  principal  one  of 
three  commissioners,  brought  about  two  treaties,  signed  Feb- 
ruary 6, 1778,  with  the  following  principal  provisions :  (1)  these 
treaties  recognized  the  "  United  States  of  North  America  "  as 
an  independent  power;  (2)  the  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce 
gave  to  the  vessels  of  each  power  large  privileges  in  the  ports 
of  the  other;  (3)  the  treaty  of  alliance  (the  only  one  in  the 
history  of  the  United  States)  provided  that  the  two  powers 
should  make  common   cause   against  Great    Britain  till   the 
independence  of  the  United  States  should  be  secured. 

England  tried  to  head  off  these  treaties  with  France  by  Lord 
North's  third  plan  of  conciliation,  by  which  Parliament  repealed 
the  tea  duty  and  the  act  suspending  the  Massachusetts  char- 
ter, and  promised  not  to  lay  any  tax  or  send  any  troops 
without  the  consent  of  America.  In  June,  1778,  British  com- 
missioners came  over  to  treat  for  peace  on  these  terms; 
but  Congress  replied  that  "they  claim  a  right  to  alter  our 
charters  and  establish  laws,  and  leave  us  without  any  security 
for  our  lives  or  liberties."  The  real  reason  for  refusal  was 
that  the  treaty  with  France  seemed  to  insure  independence. 
The  news  that  a  French  fleet  was  coming  to  America  obliged 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  (who  had  superseded  General  Howe)  to 
evacuate  Philadelphia.  He  retired  through  New  Jersey ;  but 
with  his  usual  vigilance  Washington  followed  and  attacked  at 
Monmouth  (June  28,  1778).  The  treasonable  disobedience  of 
General  Charles  Lee  brought  about  a  drawn  battle ;  but  the 
British  retired  to  New  York,  and  they  made  no  more  general 


THE    WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE  175 

campaigns  and  fought  no  more  pitched  battles  in  the  North, 

except  forays  on  the  coast. 

Notwithstanding  the  immense   naval  strength  of  England, 

the  Americans  fought  well  and  successfully  at  sea.     In  1775 

Congress  organized  the  first  naval  force  out  of  merchant        137   The 

vessels ;  and  in  1776  Esek  Hopkins  was  put  in  command       ?avy  and 

-i-iii  tlle  pnva- 

of  a  national  squadron  of  small  ships,  which  raided  the  teers 

town  of  New  Providence  in  the  Bahamas.  Several  of  (1775-1780) 
the  states  also  commissioned  ships  of  war  of  their  own ;  but 
during  the  whole  war  the  Americans  never  built  a  single  ship 
which  could  fight  the  ordinary  three-decker  ship  of  the  line,  of 
which  Great  Britain  had  about  120.  The  greater  part  of  our 
naval  warfare  was  carried  on  by  privateers.  From  1776  to 
1778  the  Americans  took  British  merchantmen  to  the  value  of 
nearly  ten  million  dollars ;  in  1777  alone  320  British  merchant- 
men were  taken ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  little  American  navy 
was  driven  off  the  sea,  and  the  British  and  loyalist  privateers 
captured  hundreds  of  American  vessels. 

After  the  French  alliance,  naval  conditions  were  changed. 
In  August,  1778,  the  French  fleet  appeared,  blockaded  New 
York,  and  then  took  part  in  an  unsuccessful  attack  on  New- 
port. The  treaty  also  opened  the  way  for  the  most  dashing  of 
all  the  American  naval  commanders  of  the  time,  John  Paul 
Jones,  for  whom  the  French  government  fitted  out  a  little  fleet, 
including  an  old  merchantman,  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  With 
this  craft  Jones  cruised  in  the  North  Sea,  and  attacked  and 
took  the  Serapis,  a  forty-four-gun  ship  of  the  British  navy 
(September,  1779),  the  first  instance  of  a  square  fight  between 
American  and  British  cruisers,  and  a  glorious  victory  for  the 
Americans.  In  American  waters,  however,  the  United  States 
could  do  little  but  look  on  while  the  French  and  British  fleets 
fought  each  other  in  the  West  Indies,  or  off  the  American  coast. 
The  Spaniards  joined  in  the  war  in  1779,  and  the  Dutch  in  1780, 
and  did  their  best  to  keep  the  British  navy  busy. 


REVOLUTIONARY  WAR 

IN  THE  SOUTH 


Routes  of  Americans 
Routes  of  the  British. 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


150 


176 


THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE  177 

During  1779  there  was  a  lull  in  the  Eevolutionaiy  War  ;  but 
by  a  gallant  surprise  "Mad  Anthony  Wayne"  (July  16)  over- 
powered the  British  post  of  Stony  Point,  on  the  Hudson.  lgg 
A  year  later  the  patriot  cause  almost  perished  through        Arnold's 
the  treason  of  Benedict  Arnold,  a  brave  officer,  veteran  of 
many  battles,  who  thought  he  had  been  slighted.     He  asked 
the  command  of  the  important  post  of  West  Point,  in  order 
to  betray  it  for  $30,000  and  a  major  general's  commission. 
Fortunately  the  British  agent,  Major  John  Andre,  was  taken 
at  the  critical  moment  (September  23,  1780) ;  West  Point  was 
saved,  and  with  it  the  line  of  communication  with  New  Eng- 
land.    Since  Andre  was  traveling  through  the  American  lines 
in  disguise,  he  was  a  spy,  and  was  justly  executed  as  a  spy, 
though  his  captors  bore  tribute  to  his  brave  and  manly  char- 
acter.    Arnold  received  the  promised  reward  from  the  British. 

In  1780  the  British  changed  their  plan  of  warfare  by  attack- 
ing the  southern  states.    Savannah  had  already  been  taken  (De- 
cember, 1778),  and  a  royal  government  set  up  in  Georgia.      139.  Cam- 
An  expedition  under  the  French  admiral  D'Estaing,  in   paign  gJmtli 
cooperation  with  a  land  force  under  General  Lincoln,  in  (1778-1780) 
1779  was  unable  to  recover  Savannah.     With  troops  set  free 
by  the  evacuation  of  Newport,  Charleston  was   besieged  by 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  and  Lord  Charles  Cornwallis,  with  about 
13,000  men,  and  by  the  renowned  loyalist  cavalry  commander, 
Tarleton.     On  May  12,  1780,  Lincoln  was  compelled  to  sur- 
render the  city,  with  its  whole  garrison  of  about  3000. 

The  British  command  in  the  Carolinas  was  now  intrusted 
to  Lord  Cornwallis,  an  experienced  officer  who  had  strongly 
advised  a  southern  campaign.  He  began  to  push  into  the  in- 
terior, and  Tarleton  broke  up  the  remnant  of  the  American 
southern  army  at  Waxhaw  Creek;  but  Marion  and  Sumter, 
with  militia,  irregular  troops,  and  guerrillas,  somehow  kept 
the  field.  The  effort  of  Cornwallis  to  establish  a  loyal  govern- 
ment, and  to  enroll  loyalist  troops,  led  to  a  fearful  condition 


178  •  REVOLUTION 

of  partisan  warfare,  marked  by  excesses  on  both  sides.  To 
stem  this  invasion,  Washington  sent  De  Kalb  from  the  North 
to  Hillsboro,  North  Carolina ;  but  Congress  called  Horatio 
Gates  from  his  inactivity  to  take  command.  Gates  formed  the 
project  of  seizing  Camden,  occupied  by  the  British  as  an  im- 
portant strategic  point.  With  1400  regular  troops  and  1600 
militia,  he  moved  on  Cornwall is's  force  of  2000  men  August 
16,  1780;  the  American  army  was  routed  with  a  loss  of  2000 
men.  De  Kalb  was  killed,  and  the  "hero  of  Saratoga"  ran 
away  like  any  poltroon. 

Cornwallis  now  set  about  the  systematic  conquest  of  North 
Carolina,  but  a  force  of  1200  loyalist  troops  under  Ferguson 
was  trapped  by  the  militia  and  destroyed  or  taken  at  Kings 
Mountain  (October  17).  This  important  battle  was  won  by 
western  settlers,  under  John  Sevier,  and  was  the  chief  blow 
struck  by  the  West  in  the  Revolution. 

The   winter   of    1780-1781   was   again   very   hard   for   the 
American  army,  and  bodies  of  the   Pennsylvania  and  New 
140.  From     Jersey  "  line  "  mutinied  for  lack  of  pay.     Washington 
Charleston     realized  that  his  objective  was  the  British  army  wherever 
town  it  was  to  be  found,  and  sent  General  Nathanael  Greene  to 

(1780-1781)  take  command  in  the  South,  the  principal  seat  of  hostili- 
ties. Cornwallis  still  held  the  advanced  positions  of  Augusta 
and  Ninety-six,  but  was  harassed  by  the  regulars  under  Marion, 
Henry  Lee,  and  Morgan.  Greene  sent  Morgan  to  attack  a 
column  of  Cornwallis's  army  under  Tarleton,  who  was  com- 
pletely beaten  at  the  battle  of  the  Cowpens  (January  17, 1781). 
The  two  armies  then  maneuvered  northward.  Cornwallis  suf- 
fered severely  at  Guilford  (March  15),  was  unable  to  maintain 
his  communications,  and  fell  back  to  the  coast  at  Wilmington. 
Most  of  North  Carolina  was  thus  lost  to  the  British ;  and 
Greene  soon  made  himself  master  of  inland  South  Carolina. 
Cornwallis  made  up  his  mind  to  invade  Virginia,  where  there 
was  already  a  British  force  under  Benedict  Arnold  and  Phillips. 


THE    WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE  179 

Washington  aided  his  friends  in  the  South  by  holding  the 
British  forces  in  New  York,  and  he  sent  Lafayette  to  confront 
the  enemy  in  Virginia ;  but  Lafayette  could  not  prevent  the 
junction  of  Cornwallis's  and  Arnold's  troops,  and  the  British 
army  fortified  itself  at  Yorktown  to  await  reinforcements  from 
New  York.  At  this  critical  moment  a  French  fleet  under 
De  Grasse  blockaded  the  Chesapeake,  repulsed  a  British  fleet 
bearing  reinforcements  from  New  York,  and  landed  3000 
French  troops ;  while  Washington  at  the  right  moment  made 
a  brilliant  dash  southward  from  the  Hudson  with  2000  Ameri- 
cans and  4000  Frenchmen  under  Rochambeau,  to  close  in  the 
net  on  the  land  side. 

October  19,  1781,  after  a  spirited  siege,  Cornwallis  surren- 
dered his  whole  army  of  7000  men.  Nine  months  later  the 
British  gave  up  Savannah ;  and  soon  after  evacuated  Charles- 
ton. After  seven  campaigns  the  British  held  no  territory  of 
the  original  thirteen  United  States  except  New  York  city. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  war,  Congress  gave  to  the  neigh- 
boring Indian  tribes  the  paternal  supervision  which  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  receive  from  the  British.     Congress        141.  The 
appropriated  money  for  presents,  appointed  superintend-         western 
ents  of  Indian  affairs,  and  made  some  feeble  attempts  to   (1775-1779) 
civilize  the  tribes.     But  the  principal  relation  with  the  Indians 
"was  to  repel  border  warfare  in  three  different  regions. 

(1)  The  southwestern  Indians  attacked  the  Watauga  settle- 
ment in  1776,  and  harried  the  frontier,  till  the  South  Carolina 
legislature  offered  £75  for  every  Indian  scalp.  The  Cherokees 
were  beaten  for  the  time,  and  made  treaties  with  the  states 
concerned. 

(2)  The  northern  states  felt  the  horrors  of  Indian  warfare 
when  the  loyalist  leader  Butler,  with  a  force  of  Tories  and 
Indians,  descended  on  Wyoming  Valley,  Pennsylvania  (July, 
1778),  and  ravaged  it  with  fire  and  sword.  Later,  he  and 
Joseph  Brant,  a  Mohawk  chief,  led  a  force  of  Iroquois  to  raid 

hart's  amer.  hist. 11 


180 


REVOLUTION 


Cherry  Valley,  New  York  (November,  1778).  As  a  punishment 
and  an  example,  Congress  dispatched  an  expedition  under 
General  Sullivan,  who  marched  up  into  the  territory  of  the 
Six  Nations  in  1779,  defeated  the  Indians  and  their  white 
allies,  and  laid  waste  their  whole  country.  The  Iroquois  were 
so  reduced  in  numbers  and  prestige  by  the  war  that  they  never 
again  became  a  force  in 
American  affairs. 

(3)  The  middle  fron- 
tier was  harassed  by  a 
mixed  force  of  loyalists, 
Indians,  and  renegade 
whites,  including  the 
notorious  Simon  Girty, 
under  direction  of  Henry 
Hamilton,  commander  of 
the  British  posts  in  the. 
Northwest. 

Could  not  the  tables 
be   turned   by  attacking 

the    little    British 

posts  in  the  North- 


142.  Con- 
quest of 
t  e  North- 
wast  west,  —  m     which 

,1778-1779)  there  were  few  Eng- 


George  Rogers  Clark,  about  1790. 
From  a  contemporary  portrait. 


lish  and  only  six  thousand  French  and  French  half-breeds,  — ■ 
thus  to  stop  the  Indian  raids,  and  give  a  blow  to  British  pres- 
tige ?  Among  the  settlers  in  Kentucky  associated  with  Boone 
was  George  Rogers  Clark,  an  excellent  backwoodsman  and 
experienced  in  Indian  fighting.  He  was  but  twenty-five  years 
old,  and  had  neither  money  nor  men;  and  no  story  of  the 
Arabian  Nights  is  more  romantic  or  improbable  than  his  con- 
ception of  such  an  invasion  and  his  success  in  carrying  it  out. 
Governor  Patrick  Henry  of  Virginia  authorized  him  to  attack 
the  British  post  at  Kaskaskia,  not  far  from  St.  Louis.     With 


THE    WAR   FOR  INDEPENDENCE 


181 


about  100  men,  he  floated  down  the  Ohio  River,  and  then 
marched  100  miles  across  the  country,  surprised  and  took 
Kaskaskia  (July  4,  1778),  and,  a  few  days  later,  Cahokia  —  in 
both  cases  without  taking  or  losing  a  life. 

The  larger  post  of  St.  Vincent,  or  Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash, 
was  also  ready  to  yield,  when  the  British  commander  Hamil- 
ton returned  from  an  absence  and  made  preparations  to  teach 


SCALE  OF  MILES 

6     25    5'0     75   lfto 

-  —  -—Boone's  "Wilderness 

Road 

* — Route  of  Clarkte 

expedition 


Clark's  Expedition,  and  Early  Settlements  in  the  West. 

the  Kentuckians  a  lesson.  Clark  was  too  quick  for  him.  As 
he  had  not  Kentuckians  enough  for  further  operations,  he 
enlisted  and  trained  the  French  residents,  whom  he  won  over 
by  giving  them  religious  and  civil  liberty.  These  forces  he 
used  in  an  incredible  march  across  a  country  drowned  by  a 
flood,  and  an  attack  on  Vincennes  (February,  1779),  which 
surrendered  without  a  fight.  The  Spaniards,  after  retaking 
the  small  Gulf  posts  which  dominated  the  Floridas,  attempted 
to  share  in  the  Northwest,  and  sent  an  expedition  from  St. 


182  REVOLUTION 

Louis  to  raid  the  British  fort  of  St.  Joseph,  in  what  is  now 
northern  Indiana. 

Since  Clark  carried  a  commission  from  Virginia,  and  took 
possession  of  the  country  in  her  name,  the  whole  area  north 

143    Claims    of  tne  ®^°  was  made  int°  the  county  of  Illinois  DY  tne 
to  the  West    Virginia    government   (October,   1778),   and   a   "county 
(1778-1781)   ]ieutenaut»   was  sent  0ut  to  govern  it.      The  Virginia 
claim  rested  partly  on  an  attempt  to  recur  to  the  charter  of 
1609  (annulled  in  1624),  with  its  uncertain  phrase,  "  up  into 
the  land  throughout  from  sea  to  sea,  west  and  northwest.'' 
If  that  charter  still  had  force,  the  Massachusetts  grant  of  1629 
(annulled  in  1684)  and  the  Connecticut  charter  of  1662  must 
also  be  valid;  and  they  covered  part  of  the  territory  within 
the  Virginia  claim.    The  Carolinas  had  as  good  a  charter  claim 
as  Virginia,  through  their  grants  of  1663  and  1665  (though 
surrendered  in  1729) ;  and  Georgia  in  its  charter  of  1732  (sur- 
rendered in  1752).    New  York,  not  to  be  outdone,  came  in  with 
a  claim  for  indefinite  territory  between  the  Kentucky  River  and 
Lake  Erie,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  part  of  the  territory  of 
the  Six  Nations,  who  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York. 
Contrary  to  these  conflicting  claims  under  old  charters  was 
a  common-sense  argument  of  national  rights.     The  conquest  of 
the  West  was  possible,  and  could  be  permanent,  only  through 
keeping  the  British  busy  on  the  coast.     Hence  several  of  the 
states  which  had  no  western  claims  refused  to  ratify  the  Arti- 
cles of  Confederation  till  Virginia  should  yield.    Even  after  New 
Jersey  and  Delaware  ratified,  Maryland  stood  out  for  the  great 
national  principle  that  the  wild  land  taken  as  a  result  of  the 
war  belonged  to  no  state,  but  to  the  United  States  as  a  whole. 
As  a  pledge  that  the  lands  should  be  used  for  all  the  states, 
Congress  passed  a   momentous  vote  (October  10,   1780)  that 
Journals  of    "  Tne  unappropriated  lands  which  may  be  ceded  to  .  .  . 
Congress        the  United  States  shall  be  disposed  of  for  the  common 
benefit  of  the  United  States,  and  be  settled  and  formed  into 


THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  183 

distinct  republican  states,  which  shall  become  members  of 
the  federal  union."  New  York  and  Virginia  promised  to  cede 
at  least  a  part  of  their  claims,  and  without  waiting  for  the 
matter  to  be  settled,  Maryland  ratified  the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration (March  1,  1781). 

During  this  dispute,  the  Northwest  fell  into  confusion.     The 
Virginian  local  authorities  made  extravagant  land  grants,  and 
the  French  were  much  discontented.     Irregular  fighting       144.  Gov- 
went  on  with  the  Indians,  and  in  1782  the  Christian  In-     ^the^est 
dians  at  Gnadenhutten,  on  the  Tuscarawas  Eiver,  were  (1778-1783) 
massacred  in  cold  blood  by  militia  from  Pennsylvania.     South 
of  the  Ohio  River  conditions  were  better.     A  new  center  of 
settlement  was  planted  in  1779,  at  Nashborough  (Nashville); 
and  the  next  year  a  permanent  settlement  was  made  at  the 
falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  named  Louisville  for  Louis  XVI.,  king 
of  France.      Emigration  flowed  across   the   mountains   from 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia  till  the  western  population  was 
nearly   forty   thousand;   and   some  of   the   inhabitants    peti- 
tioned Congress  to  make  Kentucky  and  Illinois  a  state. 

When  Lord  North  heard  of  the  Yorktown  surrender  (p.  179) 
he  cried  out,  "  Oh,  God,  it  is  all  over."'  The  merchants  in  Eng- 
land had  suffered  enormous  losses  by  captures  of  their     145  peace 
shipping,  and  therefore  strongly  urged  a  peace  ;  and  the       and  inde- 
king  wrote  to  Lord  North  (March  27,  1782),  "At  last  the  ,1782*1783) 

fatal  day  has  come  which  the  misfortunes  of  the  times  ri 

J  Lontempora- 

and  the  sudden  change  of  sentiments  of  the  House  of    ries,  II.  620 
Commons  have   drove  me  to."      He  was  obliged  to  accept  a 
Whig  ministry,  which  was  determined  to  end  the  war  on  such 
conditions  as  would  prevent  its  breaking  out  again. 

A  strong  commission — Franklin,  John  Adams,  John  Jay, 
and  Henry  Laurens  —  was  sent  to  represent  their  country  at 
Paris,  where  the  general  peace  was  to  be  made.  Though 
their  instructions  provided  that  the  envoys  should  take  no 
steps  without  the  approval  of  the  French  government,   they 


184  REVOLUTION 

became  satisfied  that  the  French  did  not  desire  to  give  a  good 
boundary  west  of  the  Appalachians.  In  consultation  in  their 
rooms  one  day,  Franklin  said  to  Jay,  "Would  yon  break  your 
instructions  ?  "  "  Yes,  as  I  break  this  pipe."  The  pipe  went 
into  the  fire,  and  the  instructions  were  ignored;  an  unex- 
pectedly favorable  treaty  with  Great  Britain  was  secured 
without  the  aid  of  France,  under  date  of  November  30,  1782. 
The  same  treaty  was  made  "  definitive  "  in  September,  1783. 

The  main  provisions  of  the  treaty  were  as  follows :  (1)  the 
northern  boundary  was  in  great  part  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
Lakes;  (2)  the  Mississippi  was  made  the  western  boundary, 
thus  including  not  only  Clark's  conquest,  but  the  remaining 
British  posts  in  the  Northwest,  and  the  whole  Southwest; 
(3)  the  southern  boundary  was  the  31st  parallel;  south  of 
that  line  Spain  received  back  the  Floridas;  (4)  "the  right 
to  take  fish  of  every  kind  on  the  Grand  Banks  of  Newfound- 
land "  was  acknowledged,  together  with  the  "  liberty  "  to  land 
and  cure  fish  on  the  neighboring  coast  of  Canada;  (5)  debts 
due  to  British  merchants  from  American  correspondents  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  were  to  be  valid ;  (6)  Congress  was  to 
recommend  the  states  to  receive  and  treat  well  the  loyalists 
Who  had  not  taken  arms  in  the  British  service  ;  (7)  the  British 
agreed  not  to  take  away  "  negroes  or  other  property." 

After  the  capture  of  Cornwallis,  the  American  army  had 
to  be  kept  together  until  peace  was  assured.  While;  the 
troops  lay  at  Newburg,  New  York,  some  officers  who  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  delay  of  Congress  to  vote  them  a  cash 
bonus,  issued  the  so-called  Newburg  Addresses,  urging  their 
comrades  to  refuse  to  disband.  A  few  words  from  Washing- 
ton calmed  the  difficulty,  and  Congress  voted  to  the  officers  full 
pay  for  five  years,  and  afterwards  made  large  land  grants  to 
the  common  soldiers.  In  the  spring  of  1783  the  troops  were 
disbanded;  New  York  was  evacuated  by  the  British,  November 
25,  1783,  and  the  Revolutionary  War  was  happily  over. 


THE    WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


185 


Though   crops   were   good   and   business   fairly   prosperous 
throughout  the   war,  both  the  states  and  Congress  had  a  hard 
time  to  raise  money.     The  states  laid  taxes  which  were     146.  Revo- 
collected  with   difficulty;   they  issued  $210,000,000  of       lutfi°ance 
paper  money,  which  was  mostly  never  redeemed ;  they   (1776-1780) 
fixed  prices  in  paper  money  and  punished  those  who  refused 
to  receive   it;   they  confiscated  the   estates  of  the  loyalists; 
they    borrowed     money, 
and   could   not   pay   the 
interest. 

National   finances  un- 
der Congress  were  rather 
worse  than  those  of  the 
states.    (1)  Congress  bor- 
rowed money  in  several 
ways :  in  interest-bearing 
bonds  ;  in  loans  from  for- 
eign governments ;  in  cer- 
tificates of  debt  issued  to  officers  and  other  public  creditors. 
At  the  end  of  the  war  the  debt  thus  accumulated  amounted  to 
about  $36,000,000.     (2)  Congress  raised  about  $6,000,000  by 
"  requisitions  "  on  the  states,  which  were  virtually  taxes  ;  part 
of  this  was  paid,  not  in  cash,  but  in  "  indents,"  a  kind  of  cou- 
pons for  interest  on  the  national  debt.     (3)  France  freely  gave 
to  Congress  about  $2,000,000  to  enable  it  to  keep  up  the  war, 
besides  lending  large  sums  later,  under  Franklin's  influence. 
(4)  A  few  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  raised  by  lotteries 
carried   on   for   the   profit   of   the   United    States.       (5)    The 
main  resource  of   Congress  was  paper  money,  of  which   the 
first  issue  was  made  in  June,  1775;  then  every  few  months 
thereafter  till  the  total  was  $242,000,000.     In  1776  it  began 
to  depreciate;   in  1778  it  went  down  to  about  twelve   cents 
on  the  dollar,  rallied  a  little   after  the  French  treaty,  and 
then  went  on   down,  down,  till   half    a  yard  of    broadcloth 


Continental  Paper  Money,  177(3. 


186  REVOLUTION 

cost  $200.  In  1780  Congress  redeemed  about  half  the  issue 
at  two  and  a  half  cents  on  the  dollar  and  issued  new  notes, 
which  went  on  the  same  downward  way,  till  in  1781  a  specie 
dollar  would  buy  a  thousand  dollars  in  continental  currency,  and 

Parson  Tir-  "  Paper  money  became  so  cheap, 

rell' 8 Legacy  Folks  wouldn't  count  it,  but  said,  '  a  heap.'  •• 

The  paper  money,  both  state  and  national,  was  really  a  kind 
of  taxation.  Congress  got  about  forty  million  dollars'  worth  of 
supplies  and  of  soldiers'  services  for  paper  notes  which  were 
never  redeemed,  and  therefore  caused  that  amount  of  loss  to 
the  people  through  whose  hands  they  passed. 


In  the  hostilities  which  lasted  from  1775  to  1781  the  British 
had  the  most  ships,  yet  they  could  not  break  up  the  American 
147.  Sum-      privateering.     They  had  the  most  men,  yet  never  routed 
mary  an  American  army  except  at  Camden,  and  never  captured 

a  large  force  except  at  Fort  Washington  in  1776  and  Charles- 
ton in  1780.  On  the  other  hand  the  Americans  took  the  whole 
army  of  Burgoyne  in  1777  and  of  Cornwallis  in  1781.  The 
British  expected  the  loyalists  to  make  their  task  easy,  but 
although  about  twenty  thousand  entered  the  British  service, 
the  only  loyalist  insurrection  which  seriously  hampered  the 
patriots  was  in  the  Carolinas.  The  British  occupied  and  had 
to  give  up  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Newport,  and  Savannah.  The 
Americans  failed  in  Canada,  but  seized  a  large  part  of  the  north- 
western country,  a  prize  worth  ten  Canadas. 

The  British  were  marvelously  weak  in  generals,  while  Wash- 
ington, Greene,  Lafayette,  Marion,  and  Sumter  are  enrolled 
among  the  world's  great  soldiers.  The  British  were  divided 
in  Parliament,  but  English  public  opinion  supported  the  king, 
while  America  was  split  by  the  loyalists,  Great  Britain  had 
a  strong,  long-established  government,  but  the  United  States 
had  to  form  its  confederation  under  fire;  and  till  March  1, 


THE    WAR   FOR    INDEPENDENCE 


187 


1781,  Congress  acted 
without  a  constitution, 
and  depended  on  the 
good  will  of  the  states. 
The  most  definite 
reasons  for  American 
success  were  the  timely 
and  essential  aid  of 
France  and  the  charac- 
ter of  Washington,  who 
had  the  courage  and 
skill  to  command  his 
troops,  the  patience  to 
lead  Congress  and  the 
states,  and  the  hero- 
ism to  stand  to  his 
guns  till  the  very  last. 
His  leadership  was  a 
proof  that  the  Ameri- 
can Eevolution  was  a 
righteous  cause. 


Lafayette  Statue  in  Washington. 
Designed  by  Falguiere  and  Mercie\  1890. 


TOPICS 

(1)  What  was  Pitt's  attitude  on  the  American  Revolution? 
(2)  What  were  the  services  of  Baron  von  Steuben?  (3)  Serv- 
ices of  Lafayette  ?  (4)  Why  did  the  British  attack  New  York  ? 
(5)  Why  did  not  Howe  help  Burgoyne  ?  (6)  Was  Gates  the  hero 
of  Saratoga?    (7)  Why  could  not  Washington  hold  Philadelphia? 

(8)  Why  did  the  French  make  a  treaty  with  the  United  States  ? 

(9)  Why  did  the  Indians  attack  the  frontiers,  1775-1778  ?  (10)  How 
could  George  Rogers  Clark  make  such  vast  conquests  with  so  few 
men  ?  (11)  How  was  Charleston  taken  by  the  British  ?  (12)  Pri- 
vate life  of  George  III.  (13)  Sergeant  Jasper's  heroism.  (14)  Cap- 
ture and  trial  of  John  Andre. 

(15)  Banishment  of  Tories.  (16)  Patriot  songs.  (17)  Tory 
songs.  (18)  Confiscation  of  Tory  property.  (19)  Negro  troops 
in  the  Revolution.     (20)  The  Hessians  in  America.     (21)  Work  of 


Suggestive 
topics 


Search 
topics 


188 


REVOLUTION 


women  in  the  Revolution.  (22)  Spies  in  the  Revolution.  (23)  Life 
at  Valley  Forge.  (24)  Treason  of  General  Charles  Lee.  (25)  Cap- 
ture of  the  Serapis.     (20)  Curiosities  of  continental  paper  money. 


Geography- 
Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  168,  170,  181 ;  Winsor,  America. 
Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  40-47  ;  Sloane,  French  War 
and  Bevolution,  288-378  ;  Channing,  United  States,  87-106  ;  Van 
Tyne,  American  Bevolution ;  Fiske,  American  Bevolution,  I.  147- 
343,  II.,  —  Critical  Period,  1-49;  Lecky,  England,  IV.  1-289;  Tre- 
velyan,  American  Bevolution,  pt.  ii.  I.  172-349,  II.  ;  Gay,  Bryant's 
History,  III.  451-461),  490-023,  IV.  1-90  ;  Wilson,  American  People, 
II.  242-330,  III.  1-24;  Lodge,  American  Bevolution;  McCrady, 
South  Carolina,  III.  180-858,  IV.  ;  Foster,  Century  of  Diplomacy, 
1-88  ;  Greene,  Bevolution,  137-443,  —  General  Greene,  34-320  ; 
Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§  14-20  ;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the 
West,  I.  272-327,  II.;  Hinsdale,  Old  Northwest,  147-191;  Winsor, 
Westward  Movement,  81-100, 106-224  ;  Tyler,  Bevolution  (literary), 
II.  ;  Maclay,  United  States  Navy,  I.  34-151  ;  Johnson,  General 
Washington.  134-281,  825-330;  Morse,  John  Adams,  144-223; 
Hapgood,  Paul  Jones;  Thwaites,  Daniel  Boone,  129-191.  See 
also  references  to  chapter  x. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  59-63,  —  Contemporaries,  II.  §§  159-183, 
193-208,  211-220,  —  Source  Beaders,  II.  §§  03-70,  79-91,  III.  §  70; 
MacDonald,  Select  Documents,  no.  3  ;  American  History  Leaflets, 
no.  5;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  43,  97,  98;  Caldwell,  Territorial 
Development,  26-48 ;  Moore,  Diary  of  the  American  Bevolution  ; 
Riedesel,  Letters  and  Memoirs.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n, 
Syllabus,  320-330,—  Historical  Sources,  §  77. 

Moore,  Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  American  Bevolution,  130-138, 
150-386  ;  Matthews,  Poems  of  American  Patriotism,  46-82;  Eggle- 
ston,  American  War  Ballads,  40-101  ;  Philip  Freneau,  Poems ; 
Trumbull,  M'Fingal ;  Campbell,  Gertrude  of  Wyoming  ;  Cooper, 
The  Spy,  —  The  Pilot ;  Hawthorne,  Old  News,  pt.  iii.  ;  S.  W. 
Mitchell,  Hugh  Wynne ;  P.  L.  Ford,  Janice  Meredith ;  Henry 
Morford,  Spur  of  Monmouth  ;  Harold  Frederic,  In  the  Valley 
(Mohawk)  ;  Simms,  Partisan,  — Mellichampe,  —  Scout,  —  Kather- 
ine  Walton,  —  Forayers,  —  Eutaw  (S.C.);  J.  P.Kennedy,  Horse- 
shoe Bobinson  (Southern  Tory)  ;  Thompson,  Alice  of  Old  Vin- 
cennes  ;  Winston  Churchill,  Bichard  Carvel  (Paul  Jones). 

Winsor,  America,  VI.  VII.  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  II.  III.  ; 
Lossing,  Field  Book  of  American  Bevolution. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


187T. 
Growth  of  the  Flag. 


THE   CONFEDERATION    (1781-1789) 

Many  writers  have  laid  stress  on 
July  4,  1776,  the  date  of  the  Declara- 
tion   of    Independence,    as    the        148  rrhe 

great  turning  point  of  American     Confedera- 
°  tion  estab- 

history ;  but  the  date  when  the  lished 

Articles    of    Confederation    for-  (1781) 

mally  went  into  effect  —  March  1,  1781 

—  is  equally  important,  for  it   marks 

the  beginning  of  a  constitutional  union. 

The  government  was  crudely  organized 

into  three  departments. 

(1)  Everything  was  centered  in  a 
Congress  of  delegates  appointed  by, 
and  responsible  to,  the  state  legisla- 
tures, each  delegation  casting  one  vote. 
Congress  sat  always  in  secret  session. 
Seven  state  delegations  concurring 
could  pass  resolutions  and  ordinances, 
but  on  all  vital  questions  nine  states 
had  to  vote  in  the  affirmative  to  make 
a  constitutional  majority. 

(2)  The  supremacy  of  Congress  made 
it  something  like  the  present  British 
Parliament,  for  it  created  all  the  execu- 
tive offices,  and  commissioned  all  offi- 
cials, civil  and  military.     Of  these  the 

180 


190 


THE  CONFEDERATION  191 

Secretary  at  War,  Superintendent  of  Finance,  Secretary  for  For- 
eign Affairs,  and  Postmaster  General  were  the  most  important. 

(3)  In  addition,  Congress  set  up  what  is  called  the  Old 
Court  of  Appeals  in  Prize  Cases,  which,  by  the  consent  of 
such  states  as  chose  to  pass  the  necessary  laws,  decided  cases 
involving  captures  of  British  merchant  vessels  on  appeal  from 
state  courts. 

In  many  respects  the  new  Congress  much  resembled 
its  predecessor,  the  Continental  Congress;  but  it  was  much 
superior  in  effectiveness:  (1)  it  had  a  definite  constitutional 
basis  in  black  and  white ;  (2)  it  had  a  constitutional  right  to 
levy  taxes  on  the  state  governments  in  the  so-called  requisi- 
tions, and  could  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United 
States;  (3)  it  had  a  definite  status  as  one  of  the  world's 
national  governments;  (4)  it  assumed  authority  in  matters  of 
national  concern,  even  though,  like  the  public  lands,  they  were 
not  provided  for  by  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 

One  of  the  duties  of  Congress  was  to  adjust  the  disputes 
with  the  states  over  the  western   lands,  involving  the   three 
questions  of  state  claims,  administration  of  the   public     149.  West- 
lands,  and  organization  of  new  western  communities.     In         cessions 
the  whole  process  one  of  the  most  effective  arguments   (1781-1784) 
was   put  forward  by  Thomas   Paine,  in   a   pamphlet   called 
Public  Good,  in  which  he  insisted  on  the  right  of  the  whole 
Union,  as  the  successor  of  the  British  government,  to  control 
lands  hitherto  ungranted. 

Influenced  by  such  arguments  and  by  the  protests  of  Mary- 
land, the  four  states  which  claimed  lands  north  of  the  Ohio 
River  gracefully  yielded.  (1)  New  York  ceded  all  claims 
west  of  the  present  western  boundary  of  that  state  (1781). 
(2)  Virginia  gave  up  all  claims  to  territory  north  of  the  Ohio 
River,  except  ownership  in  the  Virginia  Reserve  Military 
Bounty  Lands  (1784).  (3)  Massachusetts  yielded  all  claims 
west   of  New   York   (1785),  and   in    1786    gave   up    to   that 


192  F  E  DERATION 

state  her  claim  to  govern  western  New  York,  retaining  owner- 
ship of  the  land.  (4)  Connecticut,  during  the  Revolution, 
claimed  northern  Pennsylvania  and  the  region  west  of  it,  under 
the  charter  of  1662,  but  a  decision  of  a  commission  appointed 
by  Congress  went  against  her.  In  1786  Connecticut  ceded  her 
claims  to  Congress,  reserving,  however,  a  strip  120  miles  long 
on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie  west  of  Pennsylvania,  as  an 
outlying  district  of  the  state,  a  strip  known  as  the  Connecticut 
Reserve,  or  the  Western  Reserve  (§  199). 

The  claims  south  of  the  Ohio  River  were  harder  to  adjust. 

(1)  To  Virginia  was  left  the  District  of  Kentucky,  which  re- 
mained a  part  of  Virginia  until  admitted  as  a  state  in  1792. 

(2)  North  Carolina  claimed  Tennessee,  including  the  Watauga 
and  other  settlements,  and  issued  land  grants  covering  the  whole 
tract,  but  in  1790  she  ceded  to  Congress  the  right  to  govern 
the  region.  (3)  South  Carolina,  in  1787,  gave  up  her  claim  to 
a  narrow  strip  lying  between  western  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  (4)  Georgia  claimed  everything  between  the  present 
state  and  the  Mississippi  River,  and  did  not  consent  to  accept 
her  present  state  boundaries  till  1802. 

Long  before  any  part  of   the  disputed   lands   came   under 
exclusive  control  of  Congress,  that  body  decided  to  sell  them 
150.  Basis     and  devote  the  proceeds  to  paying  the  national  debt, 
land^ystem   ^ne  nrst  ^an(^  ^H  to  ^e  adopted  was  the  Grayson  ordi- 
(1785-1788)   nance  (May  20,  1785),  following  a  suggestion  of  Jeffer- 
son: the  western  country  was  to  be  divided  into  townships, 
six  miles  square,  by  lines  running  due  north  and  south,  and 
others    crossing   at   right   angles;    each   township  to  be   sub- 
divided by  lines  a  mile  apart  into  thirty-six  sections,  one  of 
which  was  reserved  for  schools.     The  price  of  land  was  to  be 
a  dollar  an  acre. 

To  get  the  land  into  shape  to  be  transferred,  the  government 
sometimes  had  to  drive  squatters  off  with  troops ;  then  the  states 
and  the  holders  of  bounty  land  warrants  had  such  quantities  to 


THE   CONFEDERATION 


193 


sell  below  the  government  price  that  sales  could  not  be  made 
for  cash.  The  government  debt  was  at  a  distressing  discount, 
and  shrewd  men  hit  on  the  idea  of  buying  land  with  certifi- 
cates of  debt.  The 
new  Ohio  Company 
(p.  195)  contracted  to 
buy  about  1,500,000 
acres,  and  took  about 
900,000.  The  Symmes 
Company  wanted  a  mil- 
lion acres,  and  finally 
got  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion, including  the  site 
of  Cincinnati.  The  Sci- 
oto Company,  managed 
by  speculators,  under- 
took to  buy  three  and 
a  half  million  acres,  but 
never  took  any.  In 
the  year  1788  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania  bought 
200,000  acres  — the  tri- 
angle of  land  west  of  the  New  York  line,  which  gave  a  lake 
front,  including  the  site  of  the  city  of  Erie. 

To  settle  the  new  southwestern  frontier,  a  body  of  hardy 
people  called  "backwoodsmen"  were  pressing  on;  they  were 
Scotch-Irish,  Germans,  and  people  of  English  descent,  but     151.  West- 
thus  thrown  together  they  speedily  became  one  people.      ern  "t1jl?" 
They   took   up    farms   on   land   patents,  or   by   "toma-  (1783-1789) 
hawk    right,"    blazing    trees    where    they    meant    to    settle. 
In  a  few  days  of  hard  labor  they  could  build  a  log  house ;  in 
a  few  days  more  a  fort.     Their  large  families  grew  up  and 
settled  more  land  about  them,  or  they  left  their  farms  and 
again  plunged  into  the  far  backwoods.     Their  ordinary  dress 


A  Frontier  Post,  1787. 
Fort  Steuben,  Ohio.    From  a  recent  restoration. 


194  FEDERATION 

was  the  fringed  hunting  shirt  and  leggings,  and  their  flintlock 
rifles  brought  down  game  or  Indians,  as  it  might  happen. 
During  nearly  thirty  years  prior  to  1800,  the  Kentuckians  and 
Tennesseeans  were  disputing  their  territory  with  bold,  savage 
enemies,  the  Indians,  who  called  their  white  adversaries  "  Big 
Knife"  or  "Long  Knives,"  and  understood  forest  warfare 
better  than  they. 

After  the  Revolution  the  Southwest  filled  up  rapidly.  The 
Kentuckians  in  1784  took  steps  toward  the  immediate  estab- 
lishment of  a  state  government,  but  desisted  on  Virginia's  tacit 
agreement  that  she  would  soon  give  her  consent  to  the  separa- 
tion. In  1785  a  body  of  settlers  in  southwestern  Pennsylvania 
and  the  adjacent  part  of  Virginia  asked  Congress  to  admit  them 
as  a  state.  In  the  settlements  on  the  upper  Tennessee  the 
movement  went  even  further.  In  1784  a  convention  at  Jones- 
boro  formally  voted  to  establish  a  state  of  Franklin,  elected  John 
Sevier  governor,  chose  a  legislature,  made  laws,  and  defied  the 
jurisdiction  of  North  Carolina.  Again  a  policy  of  conciliation 
was  followed ;  and  the  people  returned  to  their  allegiance 
under  the  promise  that  North  Carolina  would  transfer  the 
territory  to  the  United  States. 

Although  Congress  had  no  constitutional  authority  to  make 
or  to  grant  territories,  yet  in  order  to  provide  a  proper  govern- 
152.  Jeffer-  ment  for  the  settlers  both  south  and  north  of  the  Ohio, 
nance°r   "     Jen?erson  drafted  a  general  ordinance,  which  was  adopted 
(1784)  by  Congress  in  1784,  except  (1)  that  a  clause  forbidding 

slavery  (after  1800)  in  all  the  territories  was  lost  by  a  single 
vote,  and  (2)  that  Congress  did  not  accept  Jefferson's  pon- 
derous names  for  the  new  states  —  Pelisipia,  Chersonesus, 
Mesopotamia,  Polypotamia,  and  so  on. 

The  ordinance  provided  for  a  temporary  territorial  govern- 
ment, for  a  representative  in  Congress  (without  a  vote),  and 
eventually  for  a  legislature,  and  promised  speedy  admission 
as   states.     Within  a   few   months   it   looked  as  though  this 


THE   CONFEDERATION  195 

ordinance  might  be  applied  to  a  new  colony  north  of  the  Ohio. 
Several  Revol  utionary  officers  from  Massachusetts,  including 
Timothy  Pickering  and  Rufus  Putnam,  organized  the  Ohio 
Company  of  Associates,  and  applied  to  Congress  for  a  contract 
for  lands  west  of  the  upper  Ohio  River. 

In    1787    Manasseh    Cutler,   agent    of    the    company,    ap- 
peared in  New  York,  where  Congress  was  sitting,  and  ob- 
tained, with   only   one   dissenting    voice,   an   ordinance   153.  North- 
based  on  the  ordinance  of  1784.     Cutler  wrote,  however,      we8t°**l 
"The  amendments  I  proposed  have  all  been  accepted  ex-  (1787) 

cept  one."  The  principal  points  in  this  great  territorial 
charter,  dated  July  13,  1787,  were  as  follows :  (1)  It  specifi- 
cally applied  to  the  Northwest  Territory,  lying  between  the 
Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Great  Lakes.  (2)  The  first 
government  of  the  territory  was  to  be  under  a  governor  and 
three  judges,  all  appointed  by  Congress ;  they  were  to  act  as  a 
board  to  select  laws  for  the  territory,  and  the  governor  was  to 
appoint  all  local  officers ;  Congress  also  appointed  a  secretary. 
(3)  Provision  was  made  for  a  later  representative  assembly, 
with  power  to  choose  a  non-voting  delegate  to  Congress,  and  to 
make  laws  subject  to  the  governor's  veto.  (4)  Six  "articles  of 
compact"  were  formulated,  which  were  to  be  forever  binding 
on  the  new  communities.  These  provided  for  personal  liberty, 
for  religious  freedom,  for  "  schools  and  the  means  of  education," 
for  federal  supremacy  over  the  territory,  and  for  the  creation  of 
three  to  five  states  out  of  the  territory  ;  and  added  the  mo- 
mentous provision  that  "there  shall  be  neither  Slavery  nor 
involuntary  Servitude  in  the  said  Territory,  otherwise  than  in 
the  punishment  of  Crimes,  whereof  the  Party  shall  have  been 
duly  Convicted." 

Three  months  later  the  first  territorial  government  was  estab- 
lished for  the  Northwest  Territory,  under  the  governorship  of 
General  St.  Clair.  Two  bodies  of  colonists  sent  by  the  Ohio 
Company,  under  the  leadership   of   Rufus  Putnam,  traveled 


196 


FEDERATION 


from  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  passed  the  river  Hudson  and 
crossed  Pennsylvania  southwest  and  then  west  to  Pittsburg; 

and  on  April  7,  1788, 
founded  the  town  of 
Marietta,  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Muskingum 
and  Ohio  rivers  (p. 
244).  A  county  gov- 
ernment and  courts 
were  set  up,  and  the 
Ordinance  of  1787  was 
completely  in  force. 


Campus  Martius,  Marietta. 
From  the  American  Pioneer,  1842. 


The  western  lands,  however,  brought  Congress  little  money 

(§  150),  and  the  finances  of  the  federal  government  had  to  be 

154.  Fi-         cared   for   every  year.     The   only  taxes  that   the  Con- 

th^C^f^d     federation   could   lay   were   requisitions   on   the    states, 

eration  which  from  1781  to  1788  yielded  about  $3,500,000  in 

(1781-1784)  specie  and   about   |2,500,000   in   "indents."     The  half 

million  of  specie  a  year  about  paid  the  barest  expenses  of  the 

government,  leaving  nothing  for  interest  on  the  debt.     Congress 

made  an  effort  in  February,  1781,  to  put  the  finances  of  the 

country  on  a  new  footing,  by  appointing  as  Superintendent  of 

Finance  Kobert  Morris  of  Philadelphia,  a  merchant,  shipowner, 

exporter,  importer,  and  banker  all  in  one,  who  lived  in  great 

style,  and  was  then  considered  the  richest  man  in  America. 

Morris  at  once  set  to  work  on  the  accounts  and  eventually 
figured  out  that  on  January  1,  1784,  the  United  States  owed 
about  $8,000,000  to  foreign  countries  and  $31,500,000  to  its 
own  people.  When,  in  1783,  the  government  could  not  raise 
enough  specie  for  the  accumulated  pay  of  the  troops,  by  using 
his  own  credit  Morris  at  last  paid  the  common  soldiers ;  and 
he  issued  interest-bearing  certificates  for  the  claims  of  the 
officers.  As  a  financial  aid  to  the  government,  Morris  per- 
suaded Congress  to  charter  the  Bank  of  North  America  in 


THE   CONFEDERATION  197 

Philadelphia  (December,  1781) — the  first  joint  stock  bank  in 
America.  Notwithstanding  his  abilities  and  his  honest  pur- 
pose, Morris  found  the  task  too  much  for  him,  and,  after  less 
than  four  years'  service,  resigned  his  office. 

Congress  was  troubled  also  by  a  controversy  over  the  use  of 
the  Mississippi  River.  After  the  lie  volution  Congress  made 
a  series  of  commercial  treaties  with  European  powers:  155.  Euro- 
with  Holland,  with  Sweden,  and  with  Prussia.  In  1785  a^treaSts 
Spain  sent  over  a  minister  who  offered  to  make  a  treaty  (1782-1788) 
which  was  very  acceptable  to  the  northern  and  middle  ship- 
owning  communities.  The  United  States,  however,  pressed 
for  the  right  to  navigate  the  river  Mississippi  to  its  mouth 
without  paying  duties  to  the  Spanish  colony  of  Louisiana, 
which  stretched  across  its  lower  course.  This  concession 
Spain  absolutely  refused,  and  Congress  seemed  inclined  to 
accept  the  Spanish  terms;  but  the  people  of  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  protested  against  barriers  to  their  valuable  down- 
river trade.  At  this  moment  the  cargo  of  a  North  Carolina 
trader  was  confiscated  at  New  Orleans,  whereupon  the  prop- 
erty of  Spanish  traders  was  seized  by  Kentuckians.  Some 
of  the  southwestern  people  roundly  threatened   to   leave  the 

Union  if  cut  off  from  the  sea,  and  Washington  wrote:        „r    ,. 

°  Washmg- 

"The  western  states  (I  speak  now  from  my  own  obser-    ton,  Works, 
vation)  stand  as  it  were  upon  a  pivot.     The  touch  of  a 
feather  would  turn  them  any  way."     The  whole  matter  was 
postponed  for  the  time. 

Another  commercial  question  was  that  of  trade  with  Eng- 
land and  the  British  colonies.  American  merchants  were  ready 
to  buy  almost  exclusively  in  England,  as    they  did  be-     156   Rela. 

fore  the  Revolution.     Nevertheless,  the  British  govern-      tions  with 

Great  Brit- 
ment  closed  the  West  India  trade  to  all  vessels  except      ain(1783- 

British  owned  and  British  built  (July,  1783);   that  is,  1788) 

Great  Britain  applied,  against  the  United  States,  as  a  foreign 

country,  the  same  principles   of  exclusion  from  her  colonial 


THE   CONFEDERATION  199 

trade  which  she  had  for  a  century  applied  against  France  and 
Spain  and  other  powers.  Still,  direct  trade  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  went  on  freely  in  the  vessels  of 
both  nations,  and  the  British  merchants  got  most  of  the  Amer- 
ican orders;  hence  Great  Britain  steadily  refused  to  make  a 
commercial  treaty. 

Another  set  of  difficulties  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  arose  because  each  nation  charged  the  other  with 
not  carrying  out  the  treaty  of  peace :  (1)  several  states  inter- 
fered with  suits  brought  to  collect  the  debts  due  to  British 
merchants  when  the  Revolution  began;  (2)  the  British  gov- 
ernment was  offended  because  the  states  refused  to  receive 
back  loyalists  who  were  eager  to  accept  the  new  order  of 
things,  although  this  hard  and  mistaken  policy  was  not  for- 
bidden by  the  treaty ;  (3)  negro  slaves  were  carried  away  by^ 
the  British  fleets;  (4)  the  British  held  on  to  a  line  of  posts 
through  northern  New  York  and  the  Northwest  in  American 
territory. 

In  neither  foreign  relations  nor  finances  could  the  Confed- 
eration compel  the  states  to  do  their  constitutional  duty :  for 
instance,  Georgia  never  paid  a  penny  of   her   quota  of        157.  The 
requisitions  (§  154)  in  the  whole  period  from  1781  to  1788,      \he  Union 
and  Jefferson  wrote,  "  There  never  will  be  money  in  the  (1781-1789; 
Treasury  until  the  Confederacy  shows  its  teeth."      One  of  the 
serious  difficulties  in  trying  to  get  a  commercial  treaty  with 
Great  Britain  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  states  had  the  right  each 
for  itself  to  regulate  foreign  and  interstate  commerce.    Some  of 
them  laid  discriminating  duties  on  British  ships ;  others  took 
off  discriminations  so  as  to  induce  British  ships  to  come  to 
their  ports.      Three  states  —  Massachusetts,  New  York,  and 
Pennsylvania  —  adopted  protective  tariff  duties   which  were 
applied  against  their  neighbors;   and  New  Jersey  retaliated 
with  an  act  taxing  the  New  York  lighthouse  on  Sandy  Hook. 

The  state  acts  which  most  affected  neighboring  states  were 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 12 


200  FEDERATION 

the  a  Stay  and  Tender  "  laws,  suspending  all  suits  for  debt  for 
six  months  or  a  year,  or  permitting  the  debtor  to  offer  goods, 
cattle,  or  even  land  in  payment  of  his  debts.  Ignoring  their 
experience  in  the  Revolution,  seven  of  the  states  put  out  issues 
of  paper  money,  of  which  a  great  part  was  again  repudiated ; 
and  this  bore  hard  on  merchants  who  had  sold  goods  on 
credit  for  specie  prices. 

For  many  other  reasons  people  were  disturbed  and  discon- 
tented after  the  war :  (1)  they  bought  too  much  from  England 
158   D"  an(^  f°und  ^  a  long  task  to  pay  the  bills  ;  (2)  taxes  were 

turbances  high,  or  seemed  high ;  (3)  there  was  little  specie  in  the 
country,  and  that  was  a  miscellaneous  lot  of  gold  and 
silver  coins  of  all  countries;  (4)  the  laws  of  the  time  were 
very  severe  on  poor  debtors,  and  from  one  end  of  the  country 
to  the  other  there  was  a  chorus  of  complaint  —  much  of  it 
'justified  —  that  court  fees  and  lawsuits  and  imprisonment 
for  debt  were  intolerable  hardships. 

In  many  states  riots  broke  out  and  rose  almost  to  revolu- 
tions. Pennsylvania  whisky  distillers  violently  opposed  an 
excise  on  their  product.  In  New  York  city  John  Jay  was 
nearly  killed  while  opposing  a  riot.  In  New  Hampshire  an 
incipient  insurrection  had  to  be  broken  up  by  troops.  The 
people  of  Maine,  Vermont,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee  all 
demanded  separate  statehood.  The  climax  was  reached  in 
Shays's  Rebellion  of  1786-1787  in  Massachusetts,  which  made 
a  great  impression  on  the  country.  As  a  protest  against 
numerous  suits  for  debt  against  the  farmers,  rioters  in  Great 
Barrington,  Worcester,  and  other  places  prevented  the  judges 
from  holding  court;  and  then  the  movement  grew  rapidly. 
Early  in  1787  Captain  Daniel  Shays  got  together  about  1800 
men  and  even  attacked  the  United  States  arsenal  at  Springfield. 
State  militia  was  sent  to  break  up  the  insurrection ;  when  the 
two  forces  actually  met  each  other  at  Petersham,  the  rebels 
gave  way  in  confusion,  and  order  was  shortly  restored. 


THE   CONFEDERATION  201 

Another  disturbing  element  in  the  American  Union  was  the 
existence   of   human  slavery.     Against   this   contrast   to   the 
principles  of  political  equality  and  Christian  brotherhood,     159.  Ques- 
many  voices  were  raised  before  the  Revolution.     Thus  slavery 

John  Woolman,  a  Quaker  lay  preacher,  wrote:  "These  (1774-1785) 
are  the  people  who  have  made  no  agreement  to  serve  us,       Woolman, 
and  who  have  never  forfeited  their  liberty  that  we  know  Journal,  no 
of.     These  are  the  souls  for  whom  Christ  died."      In  1775  the 
first  antislavery  society  was  formed  in  Philadelphia. 

So  long  as  all  the  communities  had  slaves,  the  system  made 
no  trouble  among  neighbors :  runaway  slaves  were  returned, 
if  they  got  into  another  colony  or  state,  exactly  like  stray 
horses;  and  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787  there  was  a  special 
agreement  that  fugitive  slaves  should  be  returned.  During 
the  Revolution  the  first  legal  steps  were  taken  against  slavery. 
The  slave  trade  was  prohibited  by  ordinances  of  the  Continen- 
tal Congress,  and  by  statutes  of  almost  all  the  individual  states, 
and  most  of  the  3000  negroes  who  served  in  the  army  during 
the  Revolution  were  set  free,  with  their  families. 

In  several  debates  in  the  Continental  Congress,  however, 
the  North  and  the  South  began  to  show  a  difference  of  spirit 
toward  slavery,  and  this  difference  came  out  with  great  dis- 
tinctness when  five  states  and  one  independent  community 
laid  the  ban  of  their  laws  on  slavery.  (1)  Vermont  in  its 
constitution  of  1777  prohibited  the  slavery  of  grown  men  and 
women.  (2)  Pennsylvania  in  1780  passed  an  act  providing 
that  all  persons  born  within  the  commonwealth  after  the  date 
of  the  act  should  be  born  free.  (3)  The  Massachusetts  consti- 
tution of  1780  declared  that  "All  men  are  born  free  and 
equal,"  which  the  courts  afterward  held  to  be  a  prohibition  of 
slavery.  (4)  The  similar  revised  constitution  of  New  Hamp- 
shire in  1783  had  the  same  effect  in  that  state.  (5)  In  Con- 
necticut and  (6)  Rhode  Island,  emancipation  acts,  similar  to 
that  of  Pennsylvania,  were  passed  in  1784. 


202  FEDERATION 

By  the  Northwest  Ordinance  of  1787,  freedom  was  guar- 
anteed in  the  whole  territory  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  In  1799 
New  York  passed  a  gradual  emancipation  act;  and  in  1804 
New  Jersey  followed.  Thus  was  created  a  solid  block  of  terri- 
tory from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi,  north  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  Line  (the  southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania)  and 
north  of  the  Ohio  River,  in  which  slavery  was  dead  or  dying. 
From  that  time  on  the  Union  was  divided  into  two  sections, 
having  hostile  labor  systems. 

The   Confederation  was  a   great   advance  on  any  form  of 

160.  De-  federal  government  that  the  world  had  ever  known;  but 
Confedera-  **  was  an  exPei*iment,  and  in  practice  showed  several 
tion  kinds  of  defects. 

(1)  Congress  was  ill  organized  for  its  work ;  often  less  than 
the  necessary  seven  states  were  represented,  and  for  months 
together  the  delegations  of  nine  states  could  not  be  assembled 
even  for  the  most  important  business ;  and  a  clause  against 
serving  more  than  three  years  out  of  six  turned  men  like  Madi- 
son and  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  out  of  Congress  when  they 
had  learned  to  be  useful. 

(2)  The  powers  of  the  Confederation  were  too  weak.  It 
had  not  full  authority  to  make  commercial  treaties;  it  had 
no  power  over  interstate  commerce  and  therefore  could  not 
prevent  the  states  from  injuring  one  another.  It  had  no  power 
to  compel  the  payment  of  taxes  and  could  raise  revenue  only 
by  feeble  requisitions  on  the  states. 

(3)  Congress  had  no  means  of  carrying  out  its  powers.  It 
could  not  compel  individuals  to  obey ;  it  could  not  collect 
its  revenue,  except  through  the  states;  it  had  no  system  of 
criminal  law,  and  no  permanent  courts  to  apply  its  civil  laws. 

The  best  men  of  the  time  were  perfectly  aware  of  the  defects 

161.  Sug-  of  the  confederacy.  Three  different  times  did  Congress 
amendment  su^m^  to  the  states  constitutional  amendments,  which 
(1781-1786)   would  at  least  have  tided  over  the  trouble. 


s 


\o/ 


THE   CONFEDERATION 


203 


(1)  In  1781  it  asked  authority,  by  the  "Five  per  cent 
Scheme,"  to  lay  a  duty  of  five  per  cent  on  imports,  the  pro- 
ceeds to  go  toward  paying  the  principal  and  interest  of  the 
public  debt.  Twelve  legislatures  voted  for  this  constitutional 
amendment,  but  since  unanimous  consent  was  necessary,  the 
obstinacy  of  Rhode  Island  de- 
feated the  plan. 

(2)  In  1783  Congress  proposed 
a  "  Revenue  Plan "  by  which  it 
might  lay  specific  duties  on  a  very 
low  scale  for  twenty -five  years,  the 
states  to  appoint  the  collectors. 
Again  twelve  states  accepted,  but 
this  time  New  York  refused  to  rat- 
ify, and  the  amendment  was  lost. 

(3)  A  "commerce  amendment," 
submitted  in  1784,  was  intended 
to  give  power  to  Congress  to  pass 
navigation  acts  against  such  coun- 
tries as  refused  to  make  commer- 
cial treaties.  This  amendment 
was  ratified  by  only  seven  out  of 
thirteen  states,  and  was  a  hope- 
less failure. 

The  most  persistent  and  the 
most  effectual  critic  of  the  Arti- 
cles of  Confederation  was  George 
Washington,  then  in  retirement. 
In  1783  he  wrote  a  famous  letter  to  the  governors  of  the  states, 
urging  a  stronger  union.  Later  he  complained  that  "Thirteen 
sovereignties  pulling  against  each  other,  and  all  tugging  at 
the  federal  head,  will  soon  bring  ruin  on  the  whole."  When 
asked  to  use  his  influence  for  reform,  he  replied :  "  Influence 
is  no  government.     Let  us  have  one  by  which  our  lives,  liber- 


Washington  Plate  and 
Pitcher. 

From  Metropolitan  Museum 
of  Art. 


204  FEDERATION 

ties,  and  properties  will  be  secured,  or  let  us  know  the  worst 
at  once." 


After  five  years  of  peace,  the  Union  was  still  in  confusion 
and  uncertainty.    Congress  lost  the  popular  respect  and  interest 
162.  Sum-      and  was  too  clumsy  for  its  own  tasks.     Almost  the  only 
mary  thing  that  it  did  thoroughly  was  to  organize  the  western 

territory,  and  for  that  it  had  no  constitutional  authority. 
The  British  treaties  still  remained  unfulfilled,  and  Congress 
could  get  no  commercial  agreements  with  either  Spain  or  Great 
Britain.  Finances  went  from  bad  to  worse  ;  Morris,  an  intelli- 
gent and  conscientious  minister  of  finance,  resigned  in  disgust, 
and  the  creditors  of  the  government  at  home  saw  little  prospect 
of  payment  of  their  principal.  The  state  governments  were 
weak,  disturbed  by  riots,  —  some  of  them  by  insurrection,  — 
and  the  southwestern  frontier  settlements  threatened  to  secede 
from  the  Union  altogether.  All  attempts  to  meet  these  diffi- 
culties by  constitutional  amendments  failed,  because  of  the  rule 
of  unanimous  consent. 

Nevertheless,  under  the  Confederation,  the  country  was 
prosperous:  trade  increased,  towns  were  built,  education  ad- 
vanced. There  was  plenty  of  raw  strength  suitable  for  a  nation, 
and  the  very  defects  of  the  Confederation  proved  a  lesson  of 
the  highest  importance,  because  they  taught  people  what 
to  avoid.  We  honor  the  men  who  made  and  carried  on  the 
Confederation,  because  they  had  the  good  sense  to  correct 
their  faults  in  the  next  attempt  to  make  a  national  govern- 
ment.—  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1787. 

TOPICS 

Suggestive  (1)   Basis  of  New  York  claims  to  western  lands.     (2)  Basis  of 

topics  Massachusetts  claims.     (3)  Basis  of  Connecticut  claims.     (4)  Basis 

of  Virginia  claims.     (5)  Basis  of  North  Carolina  claims.     (6)  Basis 

of  Georgia  claims.     (7)  What  were  the  advantages  of  the  rectan- 


tup:  confederation 


205 


gular  survey?  The  disadvantages  ?  (8)  Later  territorial  subdivi- 
sions of  the  Northwest  Territory.  (9)  First  antislavery  society. 
(10)  Why  was  the  state  of  Franklin  formed  ?     Why  discontinued  ? 

(11)  Effect  of  the  nine  states  rule.  (12)  Account  of  the  Federal  Search 
Prize  Court.  (13)  Paine's  argument  on  the  public  lands.  (14)  How  t0Plcs 
was  the  Northwest  Ordinance  obtained  ?  (15)  Was  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany a  paying  investment  ?  (16)  Jefferson's  opinions  on  slavery. 
(17)  Life  of  John  Woolman.  (18)  Anthony  Benezet's  criticisms 
of  slavery.  (19)  Washington's  objections  to  slavery.  (20)  Was 
there  danger  of  the  secession  of  the  West  in  1780?  (21)  Treat- 
ment of  returned  loyalists  by  the  states.  (22)  Was  there  danger 
of  the  success  of  Shays's  Rebellion  ? 


Secondary- 
authorities 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  190,  198  ;  McLaughlin,  Confederation  and  Consti-   Geography 
tution. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  49-54,  50-58  ;  Walker,  Making 
of  the  Nation,  1-20  ;  Channing,  United  States,  107-122  ;  McLaugh- 
lin, Confederation  and  Constitution;  Fiske,  Critical  Period,  90- 
210  ;  Schouler,  United  States,  I.  12-35  ;  McMaster,  United  States, 
I.  103-416,  503-524,  III.  89-110  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  III. 
24-00 ;  Cambridge  Modern  History,  VII.  305-314  ;  Larned,  His- 
tory for  Beady  Reference,  IV.  2377,  2920,  V.  3252,  3280,  3289 ; 
Gordy,  Political  Parties,  I.  9-63  ;  Curtis,  Constitutional  History, 
I.  98-220  ;  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  225-374  ;  Roosevelt,  Win- 
ning of  the  West,  III.  ;  Hinsdale,  Old  Northwest,  192-290,  345- 
350  ;  Sparks,  Expansion,  84-87,  100-134  ;  Dewey,  Financial  His- 
tory, §§  21-25;  Locke,  Antislavery,  46-87,  112-131,  157-159; 
Morse,  Thomas  Jefferson,  64-86,  —  Alexander  Hamilton,  I.  64- 
154  ;  Schouler,  Thomas  Jefferson,  122-152  ;  Gay,  James  Madison, 
1-83  ;  Sumner,  Ilobert  Morris,  53-138  ;  Brown,  Andrew  Jackson, 
1-23. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  64-67,  —  Contemporaries,  II.  §§  209, 
210,  III.  §§  37-5«.\  —  Source  Readers,  II.  §§  35,  36,  III.  §§  1-3  ; 
MacDonald,  Select  Documents,  no.  4 ;  American  History  Leaflets,, 
nos.  22,  28,  32  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  13,  15,  16,  40,  42,  127;  Hill, 
Liberty  Documents,  ch.  xvi.  ;  Caldwell,  Territorial  Development, 
53-73.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  330-332,  — 
Historical  Sources,  §  78. 

E.  Bellamy,  Duke  of  Stockbridge  (Shays's  Rebellion);  R.  M. 
Bird,  Nick  of  the  Woods  (Ky.). 

Wilson,  American  People,  III.  ;  Sparks,  Expansion. 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

MAKING  THE  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION  (1787-1789) 

The  right  way  to  get  a  new  start  was  pointed  out  by  Henry 

Laurens  in  1779  when  he  asked,  "  Shall  we  call  forth  a  grand 

convention  in  aid  of  the  great  council?"     This  sugges- 

liminaries     tion  of  a  special  constitutional  convention  was  repeated 

eral  Con         ^y  state  legislatures  and  individuals.     Yet  the  first  actual 

vention  step  toward  a  complete  revision  of  the  Articles  of  Confed- 

(1779-1787) 

eration  was  a  convention  on  interstate  trade  at  Annapolis 

(September,  1786).  So  few  states  sent  delegates  that  the  only 
action  was  a  report,  drawn  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  proposing 
that  a  general  convention  meet  in  Philadelphia  in  May,  1787,  to 
prepare  amendments  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 

Under  this  unofficial  call  some  of  the  states  began  to  elect 
delegates,  and  Congress  reluctantly  issued  a  formal  call  for  a 
convention  "  for  the  sole  and  express  purpose  of  revising  the 
Journal  of     articles  of  confederation,  and  reporting  to  Congress  and 
Congress,       the  several  legislatures,  such  alterations  and  provisions 
therein  as  shall,  when  agreed  to  in  Congress,  and  con- 
firmed by  the  states,  render  the  federal  constitution  adequate 
to  the  exigencies  of  government,  and  the  preservation  of  the 
Union." 

When  the  members  of  the  Convention  met  and  exchanged 

views,  they  saw  that  they  must  go  outside  the  call  of  Congress 

164  Mem-     an^  frame   a  new  constitution  altogether.      For  such  a 

bersofthe     purpose  the    Convention  was  rather  clumsy,   inasmuch 

as  each  delegation  cast  one   vote    for  its   state.      This 

arrangement  gave  as  much  voting   power   to   a  combination 

206 


MAKING   THE   FEDERAL   CONSTITUTION  207 

of  five  states  —  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  South 
Carolina,  and  Delaware  —  as  to  the  representatives  of  twice 
as  many  people  living  in  the  five  states  of  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina.  Ehode 
Island  sent  no  delegates,  the  New  Hampshire  delegation  came 
in  late,  and  Georgia,  with  a  large  and  fertile  territory,  com- 
monly voted  with  the  large  states,  which  thus  had  a  majority 
of  one  vote  on  critical  questions. 

Fortunately  the  fifty-five  gentlemen  who  at  one  time  or 
another  were  members  of  the  Convention  included  some  of 
the  greatest  names  in  American  history,  among  them  eight  sign- 
ers of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  heaviest  work  fell 
on  a  few  leaders.  Benjamin  Franklin  was  old,  but  as  canny  as 
ever.  Alexander  Hamilton,  one  of  the  most  impetuous  members 
of  the  Convention,  took  too  extreme  ground  and  lost  influence. 
William  Paterson  of  New  Jersey  was  the  spokesman  of  the 
small  states,  and  was  ably  seconded  by  John  Dickinson,  the 
Revolutionary  statesman.  The  galaxy  of  the  Convention  was 
to  be  found  in  the  Virginia  delegation,  which  included  George 
Washington ;  he  gave  it  prestige  throughout  the  country. 

The  man  who  did  most  to  harmonize  the  sharp  differences 
in  the  Convention  was  James  Madison  of  Virginia.     In  1787 
Madison  was  only  thirty-six  years  old.     A  graduate  of    165  jamea 
Princeton  College,  he  had  seen  service  in  the  Virginia    Madison,  a 
legislature  and  in  Congress,  where  he  learned  to  know       Constitu- 
te difficulties  of  the  Confederation.     He  was  a  studious  tion 
man,  and  before  the  Convention  began  sent  for  all  the  books 
that    he    could   find    on    the    history   of    earlier    confedera- 
tions, and  prepared  a  sort  of  digest  of  those  books,  which  he 
sent  to  Washington.     He  also  consulted  with  his  friends  in 
Virginia   and   elsewhere,  and   drew  up  the  strongly  federal 
"Virginia  Plan"  as  a  basis  of  argument. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Convention  it  occurred  to  Madison 
that  posterity  would   be   interested  in   the   debates;  and   as 


208 


FEDERATION 


George  Washington  in  1784. 
From  Wright's  portrait. 

there  were  no  reporters,  he  took  down  in  shorthand  an  abbre- 
viated or  concentrated  statement  of  the  debates,  which  he 
wrote  out  in  the  evenings  and  submitted  to  the  speakers. 
In  these  discussions  Madison  himself  took  part  more  than 
fifty  times,  and  throughout  he  advocated  a  national  govern- 
ment, well  knit,  strong,  and  empowered  to  carry  out  its  own 


MAKING  THE   FEDERAL   CONSTITUTION  209 

just  authority.  As  a  representative  of  the  largest  and  most 
populous  state  in  the  Union,  the  members  from  the  small 
states  sometimes  thought  him  unfair;  but  in  a  quiet  and 
sagacious  way  he  often  suggested  a  middle  course,  and  few- 
things  against  which  he  argued  were  adopted. 

For  materials  with  which  to  put  together  a  new  constitu- 
tion, the  delegates  simply  took  the  experience  of  mankind,  so 

far  as  they  knew  it.      Therefore  they  based  their  consti- .  ._   e 

^  lob.  Sources 

tution  on  the  principles  of  free  government  as  developed  of  the  Con- 
in  England ;  yet  in  its  form  the  new  federal  government  b  1  u  ion 
owed  little  to  Parliament,  or  to  the  crown,  or  to  the  English 
judiciary  ;  for  the  Convention  took  English  institutions  as  they 
had  been  modified  and  expanded  in  the  colonial  governments, 
in  the  states,  in  the  Continental  Congress,  and  in  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederation.  For  instance,  the  two  houses  of  Con- 
gress were  suggested  by  the  two  houses  of  the  colonial  legisla- 
tures, and  also  by  experience  of  the  clumsy  working  of  a  single 
house  in  the  Confederation.  The  great  merit  of  the  members 
of  the  Federal  Convention  was  that  they  had  the  sanctified 
common  sense  to  discard  old  forms  of  government  that  worked 
ill,  and  to  substitute  forms  which  from  their  experience  they 
thought  would  work  well. 

The  Convention  was  slow  in  starting,  but  chose  Washington 
to  be  its  president  and  settled  down  to  work  May  29,  when 
Edmund  Randolph,  in  behalf  of  the  Virginia  delegation,    167   Block- 
submitted  a  set  of  resolutions,  commonly  known  as  the     ingoutthe 

document 
Virginia  Plan.      This  plan  in  broad  outlines  provided  for    (May-June, 

a  government  of  three  departments ;  and  next  day  in  its  1787) 

first  formal  resolution  the  Convention  agreed  "  That  a  national 
government  ought  to  be  established,  consisting  of  a  supreme 
legislature,  executive,  and  judiciary." 

To  avoid  the  radical  step  proposed  in  the  resolution,  two  other 
plans  were  suggested  in  the  course  of  the  Convention  :  (1)  the 
Connecticut  Plan,  which  proposed  to  enlarge  the    powers  of 


210  FEDERATION 

Congress  under  the  Confederation,  but  to  leave  the  execution 
of  the  national  laws  to  state  governments  ;  (2)  the  New  Jersey 
Plan,  which  stood  for  the  views  of  the  small  states ;  it  in- 
cluded three  departments,  but  preserved  the  equal  representa- 
tion of  the  states  in  Congress.  Hamilton's  Plan,  a  highly 
centralized  scheme,  included  a  life  senate  and  life  president ; 
the  state  governors  to  be  appointed  by  the  general  govern- 
ment. The  so-called  Pinckney  Plan,  of  which  we  have  no  con- 
temporary copy,  was  much  like  the  constitution  as  finally 
adopted.  After  about  two  weeks'  debate,  however,  the  Con- 
vention adopted  a  set  of  provisional  votes,  embodying  most  of 
the  features  of  the  Virginia  Plan,  as  the  foundation  of  the 
new  constitution.  The  most  serious  question  at  this  stage 
was  how  to  divide  members  of  Congress  among  the  states. 
The  South  wanted  an  assignment  in  proportion  to  popula- 
tion, including  slaves ;  the  North  wanted  to  leave  the  slaves 
out  of  account.  As  a  midway  course,  it  was  provisionally 
voted  to  count  slaves,  but  only  at  three  fifths  of  their  actual 
numbers. 

A  second  debate,  from  June  19  to  July  26,  brought  out  the 
168.  The  most  serious  differences  of  opinion  on  four  subjects,  and 
StntiMial  set  *n  m°ti°n  f°rces  which  eventually  brought  about  four 
compro-  compromises,  the  adoption  of  which  made  something  like 
gine-July,    agreement  possible. 

1787)  (1)  The  so-called  "  Connecticut  Compromise  "  settled 

the  question  of  representation  in  Congress.  The  small  states 
insisted  on  one  house  with  equal  vote  of  the  states ;  the  large 
states  stood  out  for  the  Virginia  Plan  of  two  houses,  with 
proportional  representation  in  both.  So  obstinate  and  bitter 
were  both  sides  that  Franklin  feared  lest  "our  projects  will 
be  confounded,  and  we  ourselves  shall  become  a  reproach  and 
by-word  down  to  future  ages."  He  therefore  moved  that  the 
Convention  be  opened  every  day  with  prayer.  A  Connecticut 
member  threw   out   the    suggestion   that   in    one   branch   the 


MAKING  THE   FEDERAL   CONSTITUTION  211 

people  ought  to  be  represented,  in  the  other  the  states ;  and 
this  idea  was  carried  out  by  the  first  compromise  (July  5), 
providing  that  there  should  be  an  equal  vote  of  states  in  the 
Senate  and  a  proportional  representation  in  the  House. 

(2)  A  few  days  later  came  up  the  question  of  assessing 
federal  direct  taxes  corresponding  to  the  old  requisitions :  the 
North  proposed  that  in  fixing  the  proportion  of  each  state, 
negroes  should  be  counted  at  their  full  numbers,  whereupon  a 
North  Carolina  member  declared  that  his  state  would  not  go 
into  a  union  on  that  basis.  The  matter  was  compromised 
(July  12)  by  a  vote  that  representatives  and  direct  taxes  should 
both  be  apportioned  according  to  the  three-fifths  rule. 

(3)  It  had  been  agreed  that  Congress  should  regulate  for- 
eign commerce,  but  the  southern  members  feared  that  this 
power  would  lead  to  navigation  acts  for  the  protection  of 
American  shipping,  which  might  raise  the  freights  on  south- 
ern exports.  Hence  Madison  introduced  a  motion  to  require 
a  two-thirds  vote  for  such  an  act.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
northern  states,  as  well  as  Maryland  and  Virginia,  were  in 
general  strongly  opposed  to  reopening  the  slave  trade.  A 
compromise  was  arranged  (August  25)  under  which  Congress 
was  left  free  to  pass  acts  in  aid  of  American  shipping  by  the 
usual  majority,  but  was  not  to  prohibit  the  slave  trade  for 
twenty  years.  The  slaveholding  states  also  secured  a  clause 
against  export  taxes. 

(4)  A  fourth  compromise,  not  so  distinctly  expressed,  fixed 
the  relation  of  the  states  to  the  federal  government.  The  Con- 
vention at  first  voted  that  Congress  should  have  the  right  to 
veto  state  laws.  Later  it  adopted  a  substitute  clause  (July  17) 
providing  for  appeals  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  in  case  a  state  infringed  on  the  national  Constitution. 

A  third  stage  of  the  Convention  began  July  26,  when  the 
work  done  by  the  Convention  to  that  point  was  summed  up  in 
a  series  of  resolutions,  which  were  sent  to  a  Committee  of 


212  FEDERATION 

Detail.     The  report  of  that  committee  grouped  the  principles 

adopted  into  articles  and  sections,  made  many  verbal  changes, 

and  included  a  few  new  features,  such  as  the  choice  of 

tion  of  de-      President  by  electors.     After  debating  this  report  from 

tails  (Aug.-   August  7  to  September  8,  the  Convention  sent  it  to  a 

o6T)b.,  17o7 ) 

Committee  of  Style,  which  reported  September  13. 
Gouverneur  Morris  was  the  leading  spirit  in  this  Revision,  and 
to  him  are  due  the  lucidity  of  phrase  and  clearness  and  exact- 
ness of  language  which  distinguish  the  Constitution. 

On  September  17  the  engrossed  draft  was  presented  for  signa- 
ture. Some  delegates  had  gone  home  in  disgust,  and  three 
members  present  —  George  Mason  and  Edmund  Randolph  of 
Virginia  and  Elbridge  Gerry  of  Massachusetts  —  refused  abso- 
lutely to  sign  the  completed  work  because  it  seemed  too  strong. 
Thirty-nine  of  the  original  fifty-five  members,  however,  repre- 
senting twelve  states,  affixed  their  signatures  to  the  Constitu- 
tion. Madison  records  that,  at  this  solemn  moment,  Franklin 
called  the  attention  of  the  members  to  the  sun  painted  behind 
the  president's  chair :  "  I  have,"  said  he,  "  often  and  often,  in 
the  course  of  the  session  and  the  vicissitudes  of  my  hopes  and 
fears  as  to  its  issue,  looked  at  that  behind  the  president,  with- 
out being  able  to  tell  whether  it  was  rising  or  setting ;  but,  now 
at  length,  I  have  the  happiness  to  know  that  it  is  a  rising  and 
not  a  setting  sun." 

The  completed  Constitution  was  founded  on  a  different 
170.  Analy-  set  of  principles  from  those  of  the  old  Confederation  in 
p1S  °t-the  ft>rm>  in  powers,  in  enforcement,  and  in  the  status  of  the 
tion  states. 

(1)  In  its  form,  the  Constitution  broke  up  the  old  con- 
centrated power  of  Congress,  and  created  three  equal  and 
coordinate  departments :  Congress,  the  President  and  his 
subordinates,  and  the  federal  courts. 

(2)  The  powers  of  the  federal  government  included  all 
those  given  to  the  Confederation,  and  many  others,  such  as  the 


MAKING   THE   FEDERAL   CONSTITUTION  213 

full  power  to  tax  individuals,  to  borrow  money,  and  to  expend 
money.  Control  over  territories  was  at  last  expressly  given, 
as  well  as  complete  power  over  foreign  and  interstate  com- 
merce, including  expressly  weights  and  measures,  coinage,  post 
offices,  copyrights,  and  patents.  To  the  federal  government 
was  given  unlimited  powers  to  make  war  on  land  and  sea, 
by  regular  forces  or  militia,  to  make  peace,  and  to  make  trea- 
ties on  all  subjects. 

(3)  Proper  means  of  enforcing  these  powers  were  given  to 
the  federal  government :  it  makes  laws  for  individuals  and  can 
punish  them  through  the  courts  if  they  are  disobedient ;  while 
the  Supreme  Court  has  jurisdiction  in  cases  where  states  are 
parties,  and  can  hear  appeals  from  the  state  courts  on  cases 
involving  the  federal  Constitution. 

(4)  The  relations  between  the  states  and  the  Union  were 
made  much  more  definite  than  under  the  Confederation;  and 
the  states  deliberately  gave  up  to  Congress,  the  President,  and 
the  federal  courts,  great  fields  of  power  —  such  as  foreign 
commerce  and  unrestricted  taxation.  To  be  sure,  several  large 
areas  of  important  powers  were  not  distinctly  conferred  on 
Congress  :  there  was  no  clause  authorizing,  in  so  many  words, 
the  annexation  of  territory,  or  the  chartering  of  corporations, 
or  the  creation  of  a  cabinet  for  the  President,  or  federal  con- 
trol of  slavery  in  the  territories,  or  opposition  to  secession  of 
a  state.  Many  such  unenumerated  powers  have  since  been 
assumed  by  the  federal  government  because  "  implied  "  in  the 
specific  articles  of  the  Constitution  (§  197). 

To  avoid  the  requirement  of  unanimous  consent  for  altera- 
tions of  the  constitution,  which  wrecked  the  Confederation,  the 
Constitution  was  to  go  into  effect,  as  to  the  states  ratify-  m  The 
ing,  when  nine  state  conventions  should  have  ratified  it.  Constitu- 
Though  the  Convention,  as  a  matter  of  form,  sent  the  the  people 
document  to  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation,  that  body  (1787-1788) 
simply  transmitted  the  instrument  to  the  states.     The  friends 


214  FEDERATION 

of  the  new  Constitution,  including  many  strong  members  of 
the  Convention,  at  once  began  to  discuss  and  to  organize. 
Since  the  opposition  accused  them  of  aiming  at  consolidation 
and  the  destruction  of  the  states,  they  gave  themselves  the 
name  of  "  Federals,"  or  "  Federalists,"  to  show  that  they 
favored  the  proper  rights  of  the  states.  Their  opponents  had 
no  better  party  title  than  "  Anti-Federalists." 

Both  sides  at  once  betook  themselves  to  the  methods  of  that 
time  for  affecting  public  sentiment  on  great  questions.  They 
wrote  elaborate  series  of  letters,  published  from  week  to  week 
in  the  local  newspapers  over  such  names  as  "  A  Land  Holder," 
"  A  Countryman,"  "  Cato,"  and  "  Cassius."  Perhaps  the  best 
two  series  are  the  letters  of  "  Agrippa"  against  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  a  series  of  essays  skillfully  defending  the  Constitu- 
tion, written  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  James  Madison,  and 
John  Jay,  which  appeared  for  many  weeks  in  succession  in 
New  York  newspapers  over  the  name  Federalist,  and  to  this 
day  make  up  one  of  the  wisest  and  best  discussions  of  the 
Constitution. 

The  fight  raged  over  the  Constitution  from  end  to  end ;  in 
general,  in  particular,  and  in  detail,  it  was  hotly  assailed  and 
strongly  defended.  The  Anti-Federalists  predicted  that  Con- 
gress would  overawe  the  states,  that  the  President  would  prove 
a  despot,  and  that  the  courts  would  destroy  liberty,  while  the 
Senate  would  be  a  stronghold  of  aristocracy.  In  one  state 
convention  a  member  even  objected  that  "if  there  be  no 
religious  test  required,  pagans,  deists,  and  Mahometans  might 
obtain  offices  among  us,  and  that  the  senators  and  representa- 
tives might  all  be  pagans."  The  point  most  criticised  was  the 
lack  of  a  bill  of  rights.  The  Convention  had  assumed  that 
individual  rights  were  fundamental  and  could  not  be  taken 
away  by  a  federation ;  but  the  state  constitutions  all  had  such 
bills  of  rights,  and  it  was  a  mistake  not  to  include  one  in  the 
new  instrument  of  government. 


MAKING  THE   FEDERAL   CONSTITUTION 


215 


All  the  states  except  Rhode  Island  called  the  necessary  state 

conventions ;  and  the  first  contest  was  in  the  popular  elections 

for  delegates.     Then  came  the  conventions,  which  in  five   172.  Ratifi- 

states  had  an  easy  task:  though  the  Pennsylvania  con-       cation  by 

six  states 
vention   assembled   first,    Delaware    had    the    honor   of    (1787-1788) 

being  first  to  ratify  (December  7,  1787),  and  that  by  a  unani- 
mous vote;  the  great  influence  of  Pennsylvania  was  thrown 
into  the  same  scale  (December  12),  by  a  vote  of  46  to  23 ;  next 
came  unanimous  ratification  by  New  Jersey  (December  18), 


The  Hancock  House  in  1789. 
From  the  Massachusetts  Magazine. 

and  by  Georgia  (January  2,  1788)  ;  Connecticut  followed,  after 
a  hot  discussion,  by  a  vote  of  128  to  40  (January  9). 

The  first  dangerous  contest  was  in  Massachusetts ;  for  when 
the  convention  assembled  and  elected  John  Hancock  as  its 
president,  it  was  clear  that  the  majority  was  against  the 
Constitution,  for  reasons  well  stated  by  a  country  member: 
"These  lawyers,  and  men  of  learning,  and  moneyed  men," 
said  he,  "that  talk  so  finely,  and  gloss  over  matters  so 
smoothly,  and  make  us  poor  illiterate  people  swallow  down 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 13 


216  FEDERATION 

the  pill,  expect  to  get  into  Congress  themselves  ;  they  ex- 
pect to  be  the  managers  of  this  Constitution,  and  get  all  the 
power  and  all  the  money  into  their  own  hands,  and  then  they 
will  swallow  up  all  us  little  folks,  like  the  great  Leviathan, 
Mr.  President  —  yes,  just  as  the  whale  swallowed  up  Jonah. 
That  is  what  I  am  afraid  of."  The  balance  of  power  in  the 
convention  was  held  by  its  president,  John  Hancock,  who  was 
kept  away  at  first  by  a  convenient  attack  of  the  celebrated 
"  Hancock  gout."  He  had  to  be  secured  by  promising  him  the 
governorship  and  hinting  at  the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 
Yet  still  there  was  no  clear  majority,  for  the  opposition  insisted 
that  ratification  should  include  a  long  list  of  amendments. 
As  a  last  resort,  the  friends  of  the  Constitution  agreed  that 
amendments  be  added,  not  as  a  condition,  but  as  a  strong  sug- 
gestion. With  all  these  influences,  on  the  test  vote  (February 
6,  1788),  Massachusetts  ratified  by  only  187  votes  to  168. 

The  fight  in  Massachusetts  was  the  crisis  of  the  constitution, 

for  the  result  had  great  influence  on  other  states.     Maryland 

173.  Ratifi-  ratified  by  a  vote  of  63  to  11  (April  28) ;   and  South 

cation  by       Carolina  ratified  by  a  vote  of  149  to  73  (May  23) ;  and 

thirteen 

states  New  Hampshire  by  a  vote  of  57  to  46  made  herself  the 

(1787-1790)  nin^  state  and  completed  athe  federal  arch"  (June  21). 
The  Virginia  convention  supposed  that  their  state  would 
be  necessary  to  make  nine.  Madison  and  Edmund  Randolph, 
who  had  a  second  time  changed  his  mind,  were  for  the  Con- 
stitution ;  and  Washington,  though  not  a  member  of  the  state 
convention,  threw  all  his  mighty  influence  in  its  favor.  The 
strongest  opponent  was  Patrick  Henry,  who  did  not  shine 
as  a  logician.  When  taxes  came  to  be  discussed,  he  exclaimed  : 
"  I  never  will  give  up  that  darling  word  i  requisition ' :  my 
country  may  give  it  up  ;  a  majority  may  wrest  it  from  me, 
but  1  will  never  give  it  up  till  my  grave."  After  the  greatest 
exertions,  Madison  succeeded  in  having  the  long  list  of  pro- 
posed amendments  made  a  "recommendation"  and  not  a  con- 


MAKING   THE    FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION 


217 


dition  of  ratification ;  and  the  Constitution  was  ratified  by  the 
narrow  vote  of  89  to  79  (June  25,  1788). 

The  Ninth  PILLAR  erected  ! 

"The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States,  ftiall  befuffitient  fortheeftabhfh* 
ment  of  this  Conftitution,  between  the  States  fo  ratifying  the  fame."  Art.  yu. 

INCIPIENT  MJGNI  PROCEDERE  MENSES. 

The  Attraction  muft 
be  irrvitftible 


Adoption  of  the  Constitution,  1788. 
From  the  Independent  Chronicle. 

The  New  York  convention  was  at  first  hostile  to  the  Consti- 
tution, and  Governor  George  Clinton,  the  political  boss  of  the 
state,  appeared  in  the  convention  to  oppose  it.  Its  successful 
champion  was  Alexander  Hamilton.  Again  the  plan  of  a  con- 
ditional ratification  was  proposed,  but  finally  by  the  close  vote 
of  30  to  27  New  York  ratified  (July  26,  1788),  "  in  full  con- 
fidence "  that  the  proposed  changes  would  be  made  after  the 
new  government  should  be  organized. 

For  some  time  two  states  still  held  off.  The  North  Caro- 
lina convention  adjourned  without  taking  a  vote,  but  a  second 
convention  was  called  which  duly  ratified  the  Constitution 
(November  21,  1789).  Rhode  Island  at  this  time  called  no 
convention,  but  was  brought  to  terms  later,  when  Congress  pro- 
posed to  treat  it  as  a  foreign  nation ;  and  she  completed  the 
roll  of  thirteen  ratifying  states  (May  29,  1790). 


The  Federal  Convention  was  simply  the  practical  result  of 
the  preparation,  from  1774  to  1787,  for  a  strong  national      174.  sum- 
government.     In  the  fourteen  months  from  May,  1787,  mary 

to  July,  1788,  the  nation  reaped  the  fruits  of  fourteen  years  of 
experience  of  an  inadequate  government. 


218  FEDERATION 

After  long  discussions  the  Philadelphia  Convention  drew  up 
a  careful  and  well-arranged  constitution  which  had  to  run  the 
gantlet  of  the  state  conventions.  In  three  —  Delaware,  New 
Jersey,  and  Georgia  —  there  was  no  opposition;  in  live  — 
Pennsylvania,  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  Maryland,  and 
South  Carolina  —  the  opposition  was  easily  overcome;  in 
three  —  Massachusetts,  Virginia,  and  New  York  —  ratification 
was  obtained  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  Two  states,  Rhode 
Island  and  North  Carolina,  did  not  ratify  till  after  the  gov- 
ernment was  in  working  order. 

The  acceptance  of  the  Constitution  was  due  to  the  thinking 
men,  public  leaders  and  business  men,  of  the  country,  who 
could  not  stand  the  disorder  and  uncertainty  of  the  Confedera- 
tion. The  creditors  of  the  national  and  state  governments 
wanted  some  assurance  that  they  would  be  paid;  the  ship- 
owner wanted  rights  in  the  ports  of  other  countries ;  the 
trader  wanted  to  be  able  to  collect  his  debts  in  other  states ; 
and  far-sighted  public  men  like  Washington  and  Hamilton 
were  tired  of  the  waste  of  time  and  effort  necessary  to  make 
the  government  go  at  all.  Eightly  did  John  Adams  say,  "The 
Constitution  was  extorted  by  grinding  necessity  from  a  reluc- 
tant people." 

TOPICS 

Suggestive  (1)  Why  did  not  Congress  undertake  a  revision  of  the  constitu- 

topics  tion  ?     ^  why  did  Rhode  isian(i  sen(j  no  delegates  to  the  Con- 

vention ?  (3)  How  was  the  Virginia  Plan  drawn  up  ?  (4)  Why 
did  so  many  members  of  the  Convention  withdraw  ?  (5)  Main  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution.  (6)  Main 
arguments  against  ratification.  (7)  Why  did  the  friends  of  the  Con- 
stitution resist  amendments  in  the  state  conventions  ?  (8)  What 
methods  brought  about  ratification  of  the  Constitution  ?  (9)  Did 
the  states  think  that  ratification  was  final,  or  repealable  ? 
Search  (io)  Suggestions. of  a  national  constitutional  convention,  1781— 

°PCS  1785.     (11)  Paterson's  Plan.     (12)  A  debate  in  the  Federal  Con- 

vention.      (13)    Sources   of   our  knowledge   of   the   Convention. 
(14)  History  of  the  Connecticut  Compromise.     (15)  History  of  the 


MAKING   THE   FEDERAL   CONSTITUTION 


219 


slave-trade  compromise.  (16)  Threats  of  withdrawal, by  members 
of  the  Convention  from  small  states.  (17)  Franklin  in  the  Con- 
vention. (18)  James  Wilson  in  the  Convention.  (19)  The  Penn- 
sylvania convention.  (20)  The  Massachusetts  convention.  (21)  The 
Virginia  convention.  (22)  The  New  York  convention.  (23)  Pat- 
rick Henry's  objections  to  the  Constitution. 

REFERENCES 

McLaughlin,  Confederation  and  Constitution. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  00-08,  —  Actual  Government, 
§  21 ;  Walker,  Making  of  the  Nation,  21-03  ;  Channing,  United 
States,  122-133  ;  McLaughlin,  Confederation  and  Constitution ; 
Fiske,  Critical  Period,  210-350 ;  Landon,  Constitutional  His- 
tory, 77-124,  211-218;  Gordy,  Political  Parties,  I.  04-102; 
Schouler,  United  States,  I.  30-70  ;  McMaster,  United  States,  I. 
277-281,  389-391,  410-423,  430-503  ;  Cambridge  Modern  History, 
VII.  243-304  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  III.  00-98  ;  Larned, 
History  for  Beady  Preference,  IV.  2044,  V.  3290  ;  Curtis,  Consti- 
tutional History,  I.  221-047;  Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§27- 
32  ;  Sparks,  Men  who  m,ade  the  Nation,  153-180  ;  Hunt,  James 
Madison,  87-100  ;  Lodge,  Alexander  Hamilton,  49-82,  —  George 
Washington,  II.  29-41  ;  Pellew,  John  Jay,  222-234  ;  Tyler,  Pat- 
rick Henry,  298-350  ;  Roosevelt,  Gouverneur  Morris,  108-145. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  08-70,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  00-75  ; 
Mac  Donald,  Select  Documents,  no.  5  ;  American  History  Leaflets, 
no.  8  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  1,  12,  70,  99  ;  Hill,  Liberty  Docu- 
ments, ch.  xvii.  ;  Caldwell,  Survey,  74-90  ;  Johnston,  American 
Orations,  I.  39-71.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus, 
332-334  ;  Historical  Sources,  §  79. 

G.  F.  Atherton,  The  Conqueror  (Hamilton);  Francis  Hopkinson, 
Essays  and  Occasional  Writings. 

Wilson,  American  People,  III. 


Geography- 
Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


THE   AMERICAN   PEOPLE   FROM  1780  TO   1800 

What  were  the  numbers,  characteristics,  and  capacities  of 
the  people  who  made  the  federal  Constitution?     The  census 

.„.   „  of   1790   showed   a   population   of  4,000,000,   of   whom 
175.  Popu- 

lationand  80,000  were  Indians,  60,000  free  negroes,  and  700,000 

distribution  glayes      In  the  remaining  3,160,000   the   English   race 

was  predominant  in  all  of   the  states;   there  were,  perhaps, 

200,000     Scotch- 


r -*-..,. 


;  v 


t^v-i, 


^v]  Settled  Area  In  1790, 


Irish,  chiefly 
along  the  fron- 
tier, a  small  but 
persistent  Dutch 
element  in  New 
York,  perhaps 
100,000  Germans 
in  Pennsylvania 
and  the  West, 
Settled  Area  in  1790.  and  a  small  Hu- 

guenot element  in  South  Carolina.  Over  nine  tenths  of  the 
people  lived  in  the  country:  in  1790  the  only  places  having  a 
population  greater  than  8000  were  Philadelphia,  with  about 
42,000  people  (including  suburbs);  New  York  city,  with  33,000; 
Boston,  with  18,000;  Charleston,  with  16,000;  and  Baltimore, 
with  14,000.  Only  about  one  twentieth  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion lived  west  of  the  crest  of  the  Appalachians ;  and  Louis- 
ville was  the  farthest  town  on  the  Ohio  River. 

Nearly  all  the  white  men  in  America  worked  on  farms  at 

220 


THE    AMERICAN   PEOPLE   FROM    1780   TO   1800         221 

least  part  of  the  year,  and  most  of  them  on  their  own  farms. 
Northern  farmers  raised  vegetables  for  their  own  use,  hay  for 
their  stock,  corn  and  other  grain,  in  some  places  hemp  and        176  j^e 
flax,  and  salted  down  pork  and  beef.     The  most  valuable  farmer 

crop  was  wheat,  cultivated  from  New  England  to  Virginia, 
and  the  basis  of  a  large  export  of  grain  and  flour.  In  Mary- 
land and  Virginia  tobacco  was  still  abundant,  while  South 
Carolina  raised  rice  and  still  a  little  indigo. 

For  an  example  of  prosperity,  take  a  French  traveler's  ac- 
count of  a  Quaker  family  living  near  Philadelphia.     The  three 
daughters,  beautiful,  easy  in  their  manners,  and  decent  in  their 
deportment,  helped  the  mother  in  the  household.     The  father 
was  constantly  in  the  fields,  where  he  grew  wheat  and  other 
crops.     He  had  an  excellent  garden  and  orchard,  ten  horses,  a 
big  corn  house,  a  barn  full  of  wheat,  oats,  and  other  grain,      Brissot  de 
a   dairy,  in  which    the    family  made    excellent   cheese.        Warville, 
li  Their  sheep  give  them  wool  of  which  the  cloth  is  made 
that  covers  the  father  and  the  children.     This  cloth  is  spun  in 
the  house,  wove  and  fulled  in  the  neighborhood.     All  the  linen 
is  made  in  the  house." 

The  farmers  for  the  most  part  had  large  families,  and  hence 
did  not  have  to  hire  much  labor.     There  was  a  good  demand 
for  handicraftsmen,  shoemakers,  harness  makers,  tailors,       177   Free 
and  the  like.     Their  wages  were  in  purchasing  value  only       and  slave 
about  half  what  wages  are  to-day,  but  every  wage  earner 
who  had  the  ambition  and  enterprise  and  industry  could  strike 
out  for  himself,  by  taking  up  land  and  starting  a  farm. 

Much  of  the  hard  labor  was  done  by  slaves.  From  Penn- 
sylvania to  North  Carolina  they  were  commonly  treated  with 
kindness.  In  Georgia  and  in  South  Carolina,  where  in  1790, 
out  of  330,000  people,  130,000  were  negro  slaves,  the  labor  was 
hard,  and  there  were  cases  of  cruel  treatment.  The  cotton  crop 
was  small  and  of  little  value,  because  it  took  so  much  time  to 
clear  the  seed  out  of  the  fiber,  till  in  1794  Eli  Whitney,  a  Yankee 


222  ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 

schoolmaster  living  in  Georgia,  patented  the  cotton  gin,  a  simple 
machine  which  could  do  the  work  of  scores  of  men.  His  ma- 
chine caused  the  production  of  cotton  to  rise  from  a  few  hun- 
dred bales  in  1790  to  600,000  in  1820.  About  1795,  sugar  was 
successfully  made  in  New  Orleans. 

Manufactures,  except  shipbuilding,  were  not  much  developed 
in  America  in  1800.  A  little  iron  and  some  steel  were  made 
in  the  middle  states,  all  of  it  with  charcoal.  Carpet  weaving 
and  broom  making  had  sprung  up,  and  Philadelphia  exported 
from  200,000  to  350,000  barrels  of  flour  every  year;  this  in- 
dustry was  aided  by  Oliver  Evans's  recent  invention  of  the 
endless  band  elevator. 

The  shipping  trade  again  became  very  prosperous  after  the 
war,  and  new  avenues  of  commerce  were  opened.  In  1784  the 
178  Trade  sn*P  Empress  of  China  made  the  first  voyage  to  China 
and  in-  and  brought  home  the  impressive  freight  of  300,000  solid 

silver  dollars.  A  profitable  direct  trade  ensued  with 
China,  India,  and  the  east  coast  of  Africa.  About  7000  men 
were  engaged  in  the  cod  fishery,  and  several  thousand  in  the 
whale  fishery.  The  fur  trade  fell  off  as  civilized  settlers  pushed 
westward,  but  John  Jacob  Astor,  a  New  York  merchant,  made 
what  was  then  considered  the  enormous  fortune  of  over  a  mil- 
lion dollars,  by  developing  the  business  in  the  far  Northwest. 

As  an  example  of  the  rich  and  influential  class  of  American 
merchants,  let  us  take  John  Hancock  of  Boston.  He  bought 
ships,  sold  ships,  and  chartered  ships  to  carry  his  cargoes. 
He  bought  and  sold  country  produce,  and  exported  fish,  whale 
oil  and  whalebone,  pot  and  pearl  ashes,  naval  stores  (pitch, 
tar,  and  turpentine),  lumber,  masts,  and  ship  timber.  He  im- 
ported dress  goods  for  men  and  women,  manufactures  of  all 
kinds,  and  coal.  The  Hancock  firm  also  did  a  banking  busi- 
ness, lent  money,  held  mortgages,  and  placed  them  for  friends, 
and  issued  drafts  upon  their  London  correspondents.  John 
Hancock  had  a  stately  house  in  Boston  (p.  215),  built  of  stone, 


THE   AMERICAN   PEOPLE   FROM   1780   TO    1800  223 

including  a  ballroom  sixty  feet  in  length,  with  furniture,  wall 
paper,  and  hangings  imported  from  England.  He  drove  a  hand- 
some "  chariot,"  or  family  carriage.  His  table  on  state  occa- 
sions bore  quantities  of  silver ;  and  he  liked  to  wear  crimson 
velvet  suits  with  white  silk  embroidered  waistcoats. 


Cross  Section  of  a  Turnpike  on  a  Side  Hill. 


Cross  Section  of  a  Turnpike. 
Showing  arrangement  of  layers  of  stone. 

Interior  commerce  was  hampered  by  the  lack  of  roads  and 

interior  waterways.     About  this  time  there  was  introduced  into 

England  a  new  method  of  roadmaking,  by  which  the   n9   Means 

highway  was  prepared  with  a  layer  of  large  stones,  a  ofcom- 

0,7  ,       ,  ,  .  ,  ,.i  •  munication 

foot  or  more  in  depth,  on  which  was  laid  a  crowning 

of  small,  angular  stones.     Under  travel  these  sharp  fragments 

consolidated,  making  a  smooth,  hard  surface.    Many  such  roads, 

often  called  turnpikes  or  stone  pikes,  were  built  in  America 

by  individuals   or   corporations,  beginning   with   the    stretch 

from  Philadelphia   to   Lancaster    (1792;    map,  p.   291);   and 

large  streams  were  bridged.     On  such  roads  and  bridges  the 

owners  were  allowed  to  charge  toll. 


224  ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 

The  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  a  period  of 
canal  building  in  England,  and  the  furor  spread  to  America. 
After  the  Revolution  Washington  visited  the  upper  Potomac 
and  Mohawk  valleys,  and  suggested  canals  by  both  routes. 
The  governments  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  thereupon  united 
in  a  plan  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac.  A 
little  later  a  traveler  named  Elkanah  Watson  formed  "the  sub- 

Contempora-  lime  P^ai1  °f  opening  an  uninterrupted  water  communi- 

ries,  III.  62  cation  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Ontario."  A  few  canals 
were  actually  built,  or  begun,  from  1793  to  1803,  notably  the 
Santee  in  South  Carolina,  the  Dismal  Swamp  in  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  and  the  Middlesex  from  Boston  to  Lowell. 

Tolerable  wagon  roads  were  built  about  1790  from  Phila- 
delphia, through  Bedford  in  southern  Pennsylvania,  to  Pitts- 
burg; and  later  from  Cumberland  on  the  upper  Potomac  to  the 
Monongahela  River.  The  so-called  Wilderness  Road,  marked 
out  by  Daniel  Boone,  the  only  direct  overland  route  into  Ken- 
tucky, was  widened  into  a  wagon  track  (1795). 

To  carry  on  the  new  enterprises,  there  was  a  rapid  develop 
ment  of  joint  stock  companies,  insurance,  bridge,  and  turnpike 

1 80   N  companies,  manufacturing  concerns,  and  especially  banks. 

economic        All  these  companies  had  special  charters,  and  the  legis- 
ors  latures  were  beset  by  demands  to  grant  privileges  to  new 

corporations.  For  manufactures  on  a  large  scale,  steam  power 
and  machinery  have  long  since  taken  the  place  of  much  of  the 
hand  labor.  It  is  hard  to  realize  now  that,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  for  erecting  buildings,  for  making  iron 
or  cloth,  for  all  the  farm  work  and  transportation,  the  only 
motive  force  was  the  muscles  of  men  and  animals,  except  a 
few  mills  run  by  wind,  water  power,  or  the  tide.  In  1800  there 
was  hardly  a  steam  engine  in  America,  and  not  a  power  loom. 

The  making  of  woolen  and  cotton  cloth  was  revolutionized 
about  the  time  of  the  Revolution  by  four  English  inventions: 
Hargreaves's  "spinning  jenny  "  (1767)  j  Arkwright's  spinning 


THE   AMERICAN  PEOPLE   FROM    1780   TO    1800         225 

frame  (1769);  Crompton's  mule  spinner  (1779);  and  Cart- 
wright's  power  loom  (1785).  The  spinning  machinery  was 
introduced  into  the  United  States  by  Samuel  Slater  of  Taw- 
tucket,  Rhode  Island,  in  1790,  and  thence  grew  up  the  woolen, 
cotton,  and  hemp  mills  of  the  United  States.  The  power  loom 
was  first  introduced  into  the  United  States  by  F.  C.  Lowell  at 
Waltham,  Massachusetts,  in  1813. 

Several  other  important  inventions  can  be  traced  back  to 
this  period,  such  as  Oliver  Evans's  power  dredge,  and  Jacob 
Perkins's  nail-making  machine.  The  renowned  Yankee  indus- 
try of  clock  making  was  also  begun  by  Eli  Terry  at  Plym- 
outh, Connecticut.  The  use  of  steam  for  propelling  ships 
was  suggested  by  two  American  inventors.  In  1786  John 
Fitch  put  a  boat  on  the  Delaware  propelled  by  a  steam  engine 
at  a  speed  of  seven  miles  an  hour;  and  in  1787  James  Eumsey 
ran  a  steam  craft  of  another  type  on  the  Potomac  River;  and 
Washington  predicted  that  Rumsey's  invention  would  solve  the 
problem  of  water  transportation. 

Another  proof  that  America  was  changing,  was  a  new  spirit 
of   humanity  and  sympathy.     Throughout  the  world   in   the 
eighteenth  century,  social  life  and  the  criminal  law  were        m   Hu 
saturated  with  cruelty ;  the  constable  beat  the  vagrant,    manitarian 
the   master  workman   beat   the  apprentice;   the  farmer 
beat   the   indentured   servant  or  maid;    the  planter  beat  the 
slave.     The  insane  man  or  woman  was  treated  literally  as  a 
beast  — chained,  starved,  and   flogged.     The    criminal  or  the 
man  charged  with  crime  was  brutalized  in  a   poisonous    and 
stifling  jail,  a  school  of  criminals.     Americans  who  won  the 
battles  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  sailors  in  John  Paul  Jones's 
ships,  were  often  half  starved  and  were  beaten  by  their  own 
officers.     Debtors  might  in  any  state  in  the  Union  be  lodged 
in  jail  and  kept  there  a  lifetime  for  a  petty  debt. 

Such  oppression  and  disregard  of  one's  neighbor  were  not 
only  contrary  to  Christianity,  but  were  also  opposed  to  the 


226  ORGANIZATION  AND  EXPANSION 

great  Revolutionary  doctrine  of  the  equality  of  man,  set  forth 
in  the  bill  of  rights  of  every  state  constitution.     Equality  was 
so  well  carried  out  that  foreign  travelers  were  amazed  to  see  inn- 
keepers sit  down  with  their  guests,  and  military  officers  chosen 
by  their  men.     Gradually,  for  the  weak  and  helpless,  benevo- 
lent societies  began  to  spring  up,  and  a  new  sense  arose  of  the 
duty  of  the  community  to  all  its  people.     Moreover,  this  feel- 
ing of  sympathy  and  responsibility  began  to  extend  to  the 
slaves.     Hence  Thomas  Jefferson,  born  and  bred  a  slaveholder, 
wrote  in  1781 :  "  Can  the  liberties  of  a  nation  be  thought  secure 
Jefferson        when  we  have  removed  their  only  firm  basis,  a  convic- 
Noteson         tion  in  the  minds  of  the  people  that  these  liberties  are  of 
the  gift  of  God  ?     That  they  are  not  to  be  violated  but 
with   his  wrath?     Indeed  I  tremble  for  my  country  when  I 
reflect  that  God  is  just:  that  his  justice  cannot  sleep  forever." 
With  all  the  assertions  of  the  right  of  the  many  to  govern, 
the  United  States  in  1780  was  far  from  being  a  thoroughgoing 
a  democracy.     In  the  New  England  states,  the  ministers 

ican  de-  and  the  merchants  were  still  practically  an  aristocracy, 
mocracy  h^ing,  as  John  Adams  put  it,  that  "  the  rich  and  the 
well  born  and  the  able  must  be  separated  from  the  mass  and 
placed  by  themselves."  Even  the  little  New  England  town 
meetings  were  not  free  from  the  mastery  of  the  local  squire ; 
according  to  a  satirist  — 

"  Yet  at  town  meetings  ev'ry  chief 
Trumbull,  Pinn'd  faith  on  great  M'Fingal's  sleeve, 

M'Fingal  And  as  he  motion'd,  all  by  rote 

Rais'd  sympathetic  hands  to  vote." 

Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York  farmers  were  not 
influenced  so  much  by  great  family  names  as  by  political  organ- 
izations.    The  first  state  nominating  convention  was  held  in 
Pennsylvania  in  1788.     Two  years  later  Senator  Maclay  ob- 
Maday,  served  that  in  New  York  "  The  Sons  of  St.  Tammany  had 

J™rnal>         a  gran(i  parade  through  the  town  in  Indian  dresses.  .  .  . 


THE   AMERICAN   PEOPLE    FROM    1780   TO    1800         227 

There  seems  to  be  some  kind  of  scheme  laid  of  erecting  some 
kind  of  order  or  society  under  this  denomination."  The 
Tammany  Society  did  develop  within  ten  years  as  a  political 
force ;  but  the  organization  of  the  New  York  democracy  was  in 
the  hands  of  two  rival  clans,  the  Livingstons  and  the  Clintons, 
who  early  developed  the  practice,  whenever  they  got  into 
power,  of  turning  their  political  opponents  out  of  office. 

Alongside  the  northern,  middle,  and  southern  states,  grew  up  a 
fourth  section  of  the  country  —  the  West,  which  in  many  ways 
was  different  from  the  older  communities.  (1)  It  was  lg3  Influ_ 
the  only  part  of  the  country  in  which  democracy  was  enceofthe 
real.  Out  there  the  only  wealth  was  land,  which  could 
be  had  almost  for  the  asking.  Most  adult  men  could  vote ; 
and  it  was  hard  for  them  to  believe  that  an  experienced 
statesman  could  be  of  greater  public  service  than  anybody  else 
who  could  command  a  majority.  (2)  Two  systems  of  navigable 
waterways  intersected  the  West  —  the  Great  Lakes  on  the 
north,  and  farther  south  the  eastern  branches  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. (3)  The  West  was  settled  with  great  rapidity.  Its 
population  increased  from  110,000  in  1790  to  386,000  in  1800 ; 
and  before  1804  three  western  states  were  added  to  the  Union 
(§  199),  while  only  one  eastern  state  was  admitted  —  Vermont 
(1791). 

After  the  Revolution  the  opportunities  for  education  rapidly 
increased  in  the  United  States.     New  England  kept  up  rural 
schools  in  hundreds    of  "district    schoolhouses,"  which   lg4  Schools 
took  both  boys  and  girls  as  young  as  two  years  old.     The     and  educa- 
teachers  were  slenderly  paid,  and  were  "  boarded  round  " 
from  family  to  family  in  the  district.     Most  of  the  towns  in 
the  Union  had  schools,  usually  supported  by  fees.     In  Phila- 
delphia, where  such  a  school  was  attended  by  Alexander  Gray- 
don,  he  read  Latin  fables,  learned  Roman  history,  fought  the 
other  boys,  was  flogged  by  his  teacher,  and  when  fourteen 
years  old  had  read  Ovid,  Virgil,  Ceesar,  and  Sallust,  and  was 


228 


ORGANIZATION   AND    EXPANSION 


reading  Horace  and  Cicero.     The  formal  education  of  girls 
stopped  in  what  we  should  call  the  grammar  grade ;  but  the 

daughters  of  cultivated 
families  embroidered, 
tapped  the  harpsichord, 
and  read  good  books,  and 
there  were  some  girls' 
boarding  schools. 

For  secondary  education 
New  England  developed  a 
system  of  endowed  acad- 
emies which  spread  into 
the  middle  states  and 
West.  Among  them  were 
the  two  Phillips  Acade- 
mies of  Andover  and  Ex- 
eter, and  the  Lexington 
(Kentucky)  Grammar 
School.  Such  a  thing  as 
a  public  high  school  ex- 
isted only  in  a  few  favored 
New  England  towns ;  but 
wealthy  families  through- 
out the  Union  often  had  private  tutors  for  their  children.  Sev- 
eral new  colleges  also  were  founded  between  1775  and  1800 ; 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  was  reorganized  and  put  on  a 
collegiate  basis  (1779)  ;  and  in  1795  was  established  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  the  first  state  institution  of  the  kind. 
The  first  professional  schools  in  the  United  States  were  two 
medical  schools  founded  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston. 

The  United  States  still  had  no  genuinely  national  literature, 

185.  Litera-  for  most   of   the  authors   followed   English   models   and 

tureandart  were  very  duut     The  most  admired  American  poets  were 

Philip  Freneau,  who  wrote  stirring  patriotic  songs  during  the 


Children's  Costume  of  about  1776. 
Worn  by  the  author's  children. 


THE   AMERICAN   PEOPLE   FROM   1780  TO    1800 


229 


Revolution,  and  Joel  Barlow,  whose  epic,  The  Vision  of  Colum- 
bus, is  a  kind  of  washed-out  Pope's  Homer's  Iliad.  The  only 
satirist  and  essayist  of  the  time  who  is  now  much  read  was 
Benjamin  Franklin,  decidedly  the  most  distinguished  Ameri- 
can author  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  field  of  literature 
in  which  America  excelled 
was  the  writings  of  public 
men,  who  furnished  a  new 
stock  of  political  ideas  to 
the  world.  Some  of  these 
books  are  descriptive,  like 
Jefferson's  famous  Notes 
on  Virginia;  others  are 
discussions  of  public  ques- 
tions, like  the  Federalist, 
and  Alexander  Hamilton's 
financial  reports.  George 
Washington,  though  he 
assumed  to  be  only  a  man 
of  affairs,  wrote  admirable 
letters  on  public  questions. 
The  fondness  of  Amer- 
icans for  newspapers  and 
periodicals  showed  itself 
in  the  first  daily  news- 
paper, the  Pennsylvania 
Packet,  founded  in  1784. 
The  newspapers  were 
dull ;  they  had  no  editori- 
als, few  advertisements,  and  filled  many  columns  with  reprints 
from  foreign  newspapers,  and  with  long-winded  essays  on  poli- 
tics. Two  literary  magazines  were  founded  about  this  time: 
the  Universal  Asylum  and  Columbian  Magazine,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  the  Boston  Magazine. 


School  and  Sport. 
From  a  schoolbook  of  1796. 


230 


ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 


The  most  notable  American  art  was  the  architecture  of  the 
best  houses  and  public  buildings.  Residences  like  the  Chew 
House  in  Germantown  (p.  171),  and  the  Harrison  House  in 
Virginia,  are  still  un- 
surpassed in  American 
domestic  architecture ; 
and  all  over  the  east- 
ern states  are  scattered 
good  courthouses  and 
other  public  buildings, 
and  a  few  good  church 
buildings  of  the  time : 
for  example,  the  Old 
South  Church  in  Boston, 
Trinity  Church  and  St. 
Paul's  in  New  York,  and 
St.  Michael's  in  Charles- 
ton. 

Soon  after  the  Revo- 
lution most  of  the  great 

186.  Church  churches  in  Amer- 

organiza-       ica  sought  national 
organization. 


St.  Michael's  Church,  Charleston, 
built  in  17G1. 


tion 


Type  of  massive  stone  church. 
As  a  logical  result  of  their  theories  of 
republican  government,  the  southern  states  withdrew  their 
public  support  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  In  1784  James 
Seabury  was  consecrated  as  Bishop  of  Connecticut  at  Aber- 
deen, Scotland;  he  came  over,  and  in  the  next  year  was 
held  the  first  general  convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States.  The  Methodist  Church,  founded 
by  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  began  its  formal  American  organiza- 
tion in  1784,  when  the  Methodists  summoned  a  national  con- 
ference, which  adopted  the  title  of  Methodist  Episcopal  and 
gave  to  Francis  Asbury  and  Thomas  Coke  the  title  of  Bishop. 
The  long  prejudice  against  the  Catholics  softened,  and  several 


THE   AMERICAN  PEOPLE   FROM   1780  TO   1800         231 


states  put  them  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  Protestants.  In 
1789  a  Catholic  bishop  was  sent  over  to  Baltimore,  and  thus 
that  church  was  formally  organized  in  the  United  States. 

Another  type  of  church  government  was  established  when  in 
1789  the  Presbyterian  local  synods  united  in  "the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,"  which  has  ever  since  been  the  supreme  governing 
body  of  that  church.  The  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey,  though  closely  akin  to  the  Presbyterian 
in  doctrine,  had  a  separate  synod. 

The  thousand  Congregational  churches  in  New  England 
were  nearly  all  supported  by  taxation,  and  each  was  its  own 
highest  tribunal ;  for, 
as  in  the  Baptist 
Church,  no  general 
convention  had  au- 
thority among  them. 
The  Quakers  also 
practiced  local  self- 
government;  and  both 
Quakers  and  Metho- 
dists freely  admitted 

Squake-pewed  Church,  Salisbury,  Mass., 
women  to   take  part  built  in  1791. 

in  their  service.  Type  of  eighteenth-century  meetinghouse. 

Among  the  many  other  Protestant  denominations  were  the 
German  Lutherans,  Moravians,  and  Dunkards ;  and  the  Men- 
nonites,  none  of  whom  would  take  an  oath,  or  fight,  or  accept 
office,  or  go  to  law.  Universalists  and  United  Brethren  had 
a  few  congregations.  The  curious  communities  known  as  the 
Shakers  were  founded  during  the  Revolution  by  Annah  Lee, 
whom  her  followers  called  the  Elect  Lady,  or  Mother  Ann. 
The  Jews  had  synagogues  in  all  the  large  places,  but  no  cen- 
tral organization. 

On  the  frontier,  religion  was  emotional.  There  was  a  great 
hart's  amkr.  hist.  — 14 


232 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


revival  of  religion   in   1800,  and   the   "camp   meeting"  was 
invented  in  Kentucky. 

All  the  churches  enjoyed  the  greatest  religious  freedom 
that  had  ever  been  known  in  the  history  of  mankind.  Each 
denomination  chose  and  ordained  its  ministers,  laid  down  its 
doctrine,  and  disciplined  its  members  in  its  own  way.  For 
the  individual  there  was  equal  freedom.     The   federal   Con- 


Quaker  Meeting,  1809.     (From  Kendall's  Travels.) 

stitution  of  1787  prohibited  any  religious  test  for  federal 
office,  and  the  states  in  course  of  time  removed  most  of  the 
religious  qualifications  both  for  voters  and  for  public  officers. 


To  describe  the  American  people  just  after  the  Revolution 

is  a  hard  task,  because  there  was  no  single  kind  of  American 

187.  Sum-      people.     The  New  Englanders  were  traders,  fishermen, 

mary  and  independent  farmers.     The  middle  states  were  still 

half  frontier,  and  the  farmers  predominated.     In  the  South 

existed  four  elements  of  society  :  the  great  planters ;  the  small 


THE   AMERICAN   PEOPLE   EliOM   1780   TO   1800         233 

planters,  with  whom  were  associated  a  large  number  of  non- 
slaveholding  farmers ;  the  poor  whites ;  and  the  negroes. 

Yet  there  was  a  thorough  community  of  interest  among  the 
American  people.  Almost  everybody  spoke  English;  almost 
everybody  was  a  Protestant;  people  passed  freely  from  state 
to  state,  and  easily  acquired  citizenship.  The  many  callings 
and  occupations  depended  closely  upon  one  another;  the  fur 
trader  got  the  raw  skins  from  the  frontier  Indians,  and  the 
country  merchant  bought  the  produce  of  the  neighboring 
farmers;  the  city  merchant  and  shipowner  carried  the  goods 
abroad,  and  brought  back  return  cargoes  of  manufactures, 
which  were  distributed  through  the  states.  The  corporations 
built  necessary  roads  and  canals,  and  provided  banks  and  con- 
veniences for  trade.  The  United  States  was  a  country  of 
wonderful  opportunities,  so  that  a  man  might  expect  to  get 
away  from  poverty  and  ignorance  if  he  chose. 

The.  great  characteristic  of  the  American  people  was  their 
power  of  organization.  They  were  organizing  business,  and 
preparing  to  make  use  of  coming  conveniences  of  intercourse ; 
they  were  building  highways,  accumulating  capital,  and  open- 
ing up  the  unrivaled  treasure-house  of  the  West.  Above  all 
they  were  organizing  towns,  counties,  and  states  —  if  they 
could  also  organize  a  strong  national  government,  nothing         St.  John 

Crcvccuzuv 

could  stay  their  progress  as  a  nation.     As  an  observer    jjPttersofa 
said,  "The  American  is  a  new  man  who  acts  upon  new     Farmer,  53 
principles;  he  must,  therefore,  entertain  new  ideas,  and  form 
new  opinions.', 

TOPICS 
(1)  What  caused  the  rapid  growth  of  colonial  and  state  popula-   Suggestive 
tion?     (2)  What  did  the  United  States  export,  1780-1800  ?     (3)  Ef-   t0PlCS 
fects  of  the  cotton  gin.     (4)  What  had  the  United  States  to  sell 
in  China  ?     (5)  Why  was  the  Erie  Canal  suggested  ?     (0)  Why 
did  not  Fitch's  or  Rumsey's  steamboat  succeed  ?     (7)  Why  was 
America  slow  in  beginning  manufactures  ?     (8)  Why  were  there 
no  Episcopal  bishops  in  America  before  1784  ? 


234 


ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 


Search 
topics 


(9)  Germans  in  North  America  up  to  1800.  (10)  French 
Huguenots  in  North  America.  (11)  Scotch-Irish  in  North  America 
up  to  1800.  (12)  Slavery  in  New  Hampshire.  (13)  Slavery  in 
Massachusetts.  (14)  Slavery  in  Connecticut.  (15)  Slavery  in 
Rhode  Island.  (16)  Slavery  in  New  York.  (17)  Slavery  in  New 
Jersey.  (18)  Slavery  in  Pennsylvania.  (19)  Travel  on  the  Wil- 
derness Road.  (20)  Debtors'  prisons.  (21)  District  schools  after 
1800.  (22)  College  life  in  1800.  (23)  American  poetry  in  1800. 
(24)  Francis  Asbury.  (25)  Eli  Whitney.  (26)  John  Jacob  Astor. 
(27)  Samuel  Slater.  (28)  Do  you  think  the  Frenchman's  experi- 
ence of  a  farmer's  family  (§  176)  is  typical  ?  (29)  Other  rich 
merchants  in  the  United  States  besides  Hancock.  (30)  The  Tam- 
many Society  from  1790  to  1820.  (31)  A  journey  about  the  year 
1800.  (32)  The  Wilderness  Road.  (33)  Life  on  American  ships 
of  war. 


Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  55,  70-72,  79;  Sloane,  French 
War  and  Revolution,  378-388  ;  Walker,  Making  of  the  Nation, 
64-72  ;  Fiske,  Critical  Period,  50-89  ;  Rhodes,  United  States,  I. 
3-27  ;  Sparks,  Expansion,  135-187  ;  Schouler,  United  States,  I.  1- 
12,  221-241  ;  Adams,  United  States,  I.  1-184 ;  McMaster,'  United 
States,  I.  1-102,  423-436,  II.  1-24,  57-66,  158-165,  538-582,  III. 
514-516,  V.  268-284  ;  Weeden,  New  England,  II.  816-875  ;  Locke, 
Antislavery,  88-111,  166-197  ;  Curtis,  Constitutional  History,  II. 
231-244  ;  Morse,  Thomas  Jefferson,  36-50  ;  Merwin,  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson, 45-58  ;  Hunt,  James  Madison,  (57-86  ;  Ward,  Bishop  White, 
1-89.     See  also  references  to  chapter  vi. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  88,  89,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  10-36, 

—  Source  Readers,  II.  §§  59-62,  III.  §§  4-8,  14-25,  29-33,  72,  100- 
104,  116,  117  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  65,  126;  Caldwell,  Survey, 
132-142  ;  Scudder,  Men  and  Manners  in  America  ;  Bowne,  GirVs 
Life  Eighty  Years  Ago  ;  Grant,  Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady ; 
Graydon,  Memoirs. 

A.  M.  Earle,  Stage-Coach  and  Tavern  Days,  —  Two  Centuries 
of  Costume  ;  J.  de  F.  Shelton,  Salt-Box  House,  168-237  ;  H.  B. 
Stowe,  Minister's  Wooing ,  — Oldtown  Folks  (N.E.)  ;  Sophie  May, 
In  Old  Quinnebasset  (N.E.)  ;  A.  E.  Barr,  Maid  of  Maiden  Lane, 

—  Trinity  Bells  (N.Y.)  ;  C.  B.  Brown,  Arthur  Mervyn  (Philadel- 
phia) ;  J.  P.  Kennedy,  Swallow  Barn  (Va.). 

Mrs.  Earle's  books  mentioned  above ;  Sparks,  Expansion ; 
Wilson,  American  People,  III. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

ORGANIZING   THE    GOVERNMENT    (1789-1793) 

The  federal  Constitution  laid  down  the  general  principles  of 
the  government;  but  the  details  had  to  be  settled  by  new  laws 
and  customs,  so  that  the  work  of  Congress  from  1789  to      18*  Kwt 
1793  was  hardly  less  important  than  that  of  the  Phila-  election 

delphia  Convention.     By  vote  of  the  old  Congress  of  the  (1788) 

Confederation,  a  date  was  set  for  the  first  presidential  elec- 
tion, and  the  new  Congress  was  to  meet  in  New  York  the  first 
Wednesday  in  March,  1789,  which  happened  to  be  March  4. 
For  the  presidency  there  was  no  contest;  everybody  knew  that 
George  Washington  would  have  the  first  vote  of  every  elector. 
More  of  their  second  votes  were  cast  for  John  Adams  than  for 
any  one  else,  and  he  was  thus  elected  Vice  President. 

The  members  of  Congress  drifted  into  New  York  slowly, 
so  that  the  House  was  not  organized  till  April  1,  1789,  and 
the  Senate  not  till  April  6.     Frederick  Muhlenberg  of       189   Con. 
Pennsylvania  was   elected   Speaker  of  the   House,  and   S™*org&n- 
John  Adams  in  due  time  took  his  constitutional  seat  as 
presiding  officer  of  the  Senate.      Then  the  two  houses  laid 
down    rules   for   their   procedure,  and   thus  made  precedents 
which  now  have  almost  the  weight  of  law.      The  House  from 
the  beginning,  and  the  Senate  from  1793,  have  usually  sat  in 
open  session.     Congress  voted  its  members  a  salary  of  $6,  later 
$8,  a  day  while  in  session,  for  which  a  fixed  salary  was  substi- 
tuted after  1854.     All  committees  at  first  were  chosen  by  bal- 
lot in  both  houses,  but  after  1790  the  House  authorized  the 
Speaker  to  appoint  the  committees,  a  great  power  which  he 
has  enjoyed  ever  since.     Within  a  few  years  began  to  grow 

235 


236 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


up  a  system  of  standing  committees  appointed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  each*  session. 

Meanwhile,  the  electoral  vote  having   been  counted,  Wash- 
ington was  notified  of  his   election,  and  on  his  arrival  from 
190.  Inau-     Mount  Vernon  was  received  in  New  York  by  thousands 
£e?PMi-0f    of  enthusiastic  people.     On  April  30,  1789,  he  was  sol- 
dent  (1789)    emnly  inaugurated  at  Federal  Hall  on  Wall  Street,  where 
he  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  made  a  simple  and  earnest 


Mount  Vernon  about  1830. 
From  an  engraving  by  Stuart. 

speech.  Congress  voted  the  President  $25,000  a  year,  the 
largest  salary  then  received  by  any  man  in  the  United  States. 
Washington  liked  becoming  ceremony,  and  it  was  understood 
that  he  approved  the  proposed  title  of  "His  Highness,  the 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  Protector  of 
their  Liberties,"  though  Patrick  Henry  said  of  the  title  that 
"it  squinted  toward  monarchy."  Eventually  no  title  was 
given  by  law ;  so  that  the  official  form  of  address  to  the  Presi- 
dent is  simply,  "  Mr.  President." 


ORGANIZING   THE    GOVERNMENT    (1789-1793)  237 

One  of  the  earliest  tasks  of  Congress  was  to  organize  the 
executive  departments,  and  in  its  first  session  it  created  four. 
(1)  First  was  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  soon    191  Execu- 
changed   to    Department   of    State.     Thomas    Jefferson  tiv^^tPsa^"_ 
became   the   first   regular  Secretary  of  State.     (2)  The  ganized 

War  Department  was  next  organized,  and  Henry  Knox 
(Secretary  at  War  under  the  Confederation)  was  reappointed 
Secretary  of  War.  (3)  The  Treasury  was  organized  in  great 
detail,  and  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  Alexander 
Hamilton.  (4)  The  former  Post  Office  was  continued,  and 
Samuel  Osgood  was  appointed  Postmaster-General.  All  these 
officers  were  appointed  by  the  President  subject  to  the  confir- 
mation of  the  Senate.  By  the  casting  vote  of  John  Adams  in 
the  Senate,  Congress  established  the  wholesome  principle  that 
the  President,  who  by  the  Constitution  is  obliged  to  see  that  the 
laws  are  faithfully  executed,  should  have  the  unrestricted 
power  of  removing  heads  of  departments  and  other  officers, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Senate. 

The  President  at  once  began  to  use  his  constitutional  right 
to  call  on  the  heads  of  departments  for  written  opinions; 
and  he  went  further  by  asking  the  three  Secretaries  and  the 
Attorney-General  (who  for  many  years  had  no  regular  depart- 
ment under  him)  to  meet  him  from  time  to  time  and  discuss 
public  business.  This  is  the  beginning  of  the  unofficial  Cabi- 
net, to  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Postmaster-General, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  and 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  have  since  been  added. 

Under  the  wise  provision  of  the  Constitution  that  amend- 
ments  may   be   proposed   by   Congress,   about   four   hundred 
resolutions  of  amendment,  suggested  by  states  in  their   i92.Amend- 
ratifications,    or   later    by    members    of    Congress,   were   mej£|]^£ 
boiled  down  by  Congress  to  twelve  amendments,  which    tion  (1789- 
got  the  requisite  two-thirds  vote  in  both  houses  and  were  1791) 

sent  out  to  the   states  for  ratification.      These  amendments 


238  ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 

formed  a  little  bill  of  rights,  assuring  jury  trial,  freedom  of 
speech  and  of  the  press,  etc.,  against  any  enactment  by  the 
federal  government,  and  including  in  the  Tenth  Article  the  im- 
portant clause  that  "  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States, 
are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people."  Ten 
only  of  the  twelve  propositions  secured  the  necessary  ratifica- 
tion by  three  fourths  of  the  states  and  became  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution (1791). 

The  Constitution  provides   that   there  shall  be  a  Supreme 
Court  and  inferior  courts,  leaving  it  to  Congress  to  settle  the 
193   Courts   details.     By  an  act  (September  24, 1789),  most  of  which 
organized      is  still  in  force,  Congress  created  three  kinds  of  courts 
—  district,    circuit,    and    supreme  —  and    two   kinds    of 
judges  —  district    and    supreme.      Ordinary   cases,    involving 
federal  law,  could  be  brought  in  the  District  Courts,  appealed 
to  the  Circuit  Courts,  and  thence  to  the  Supreme  Court.     Ap- 
peals could  be  taken  from  the  highest  state  courts  to  the  fed- 
eral Supreme  Court  in  cases  involving  federal  law.     Thus  all 
suits  turning  on  federal  law  might  finally  be  brought  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  so  that  there  might  be 
one  highest  authority  on  federal  law  throughout  the  country. 

The  President  at  once  appointed  John  Jay  of  New  York 
to  be  Chief  Justice.  The  first  Supreme  Court  case  which 
attracted  much  notice  was  Chisholm  vs.  Georgia  in  1793,  in 
which  the  court  gave  a  judgment  against  the  state.  To  pre- 
vent such  suits  against  a  state  by  citizens  of  another  state  or 
of  a  foreign  country,  the  Eleventh  Amendment  was  at  once 
proposed,  and  speedily  added  to  the  Constitution. 

The  center  of  American  social  and  political  life  was  Phila- 
delphia, seat  °f  Congress  during  most  of  the  Revolution. 
1"4.  Se3X  oi 

government  While  the  British  were  in  Philadelphia  Congress  sat  in 

(1789-1790)   York,  Lancaster,  and  Baltimore  ;  and  after  Congress  was 

insulted   in   its   own    hall    by  mutinous    soldiers   in   1783,  it 


ORGANIZING   THE   GOVERNMENT    (1789-1793)  239 

sat  in  Princeton,  Trenton,  Annapolis,  and  New  York,  but 
did  not  select  any  of  them  as  the  permanent  seat  of  govern- 
ment. The  location  of  a  capital  therefore  came  up  again  in 
1789.  A  Pennsylvania  member  spoke  for  Wright's  Ferry 
(Columbia,  Pa.),  and  praised  the  fish  of  the  Susquehanna ; 
but  a  Georgia  member,  who  did  not  like  to  travel  so  far,  . 

retorted,  "  This  .  .  .  will  blow  the  coals  of  sedition  and  Congress,  I. 
endanger  the  Union.  .  .  .     This  looks  like  aristocracy ." 
And  a  New  England  member  said  "  he  did  not  dare  to  go 
to  the  Potomac.     He  feared  that  the  whole  of  New  England 
would  consider  the  Union  as  destroyed." 

When  the  matter  came  up  again  in  1790,  it  was  tangled  with 
a  proposal  that  the  federal  government  assume  the  outstanding 
state  debts,  which  all  the  southern  members  opposed  and  all 
the  New  England  members  favored.  Hamilton,  as  a  northern 
man,  appealed  to  Jefferson,  over  whose  dining  table  an  agree- 
ment was  reached  that  the  Virginia  members  would  vote  for 
assumption,  if  Hamilton  would  find  the  votes  necessary  to  fix 
the  capital  on  the  Potomac ;  and  by  this  compromise  (it  would 
be  called  a  "deal"  nowadays)  both  measures  were  passed. 
Eighteen  million  dollars  was  distributed  impartially  among 
the  states;  and  the  capital  was  fixed  for  ten  years  at  Phila- 
delphia, and  then  in  a  district  ten  miles  square  to  be  selected 
by  the  President  on  the  Potomac  River.  This  was  the  origin 
of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

To   Alexander   Hamilton   the   present    government   of   the 
United    States   owes    almost   as   much  as   to  Madison   or  to 
Washington  ;  for  he  had  the  genius  to  think  out  methods       g     Alex 
of  organizing  the  new  national  government.     Hamilton   ander  Ham- 
was  born  in  the   island  of   Nevis   in  the  West   Indies  federal 
(1757),  and  was  educated  at  King's  College,  now  Colum-        financier 
bia  University.     When  the  Revolution  broke  out,  he  be- 
gan to  write  patriotic  pamphlets,  then  joined  the  army,  and 
attracted  the  notice  of  Washington,  who  never  ceased  to  love 


240 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


and  admire  him.     He  sat  in  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation 

for  a  time  (1782-1783),  but  a  friend  said  of  him  that  he  was  not 

„     .,  "adapted  to  a  council  composed  of  discordant  materials, 

Hamilton,      or  to  a  people  which  have  thirteen  heads."     He  was  a 

famous  lawyer,  but  his  genius  was  especially  fitted  to 

finance,  and  it  was  a  national  blessing  when,  in  September, 

1789,  at  thirty-two  years  of  age,  he  was  appointed  Secretary 

of  the  Treasury. 

It  was  a  discouraging 
post.  Hamilton  found 
a  debt  of  $52,000,000 
and  no  money  in  the 
treasury;  the  accounts 
were  in  confusion;  the 
old  paper-money  notes 
were  repudiated ;  and 
few  seemed  to  expect 
that  the  federal  govern- 
ment would  ever  pay 
its  bonded  debt.  Be- 
tween January,  1790, 
and  January,  1792, 
Hamilton  issued  a 
series  of  five  reports 
Alexander  Hamilton.  0n  the  finances  of  the 

From  the  portrait  by  Weimar.  country :       on      Public 

Credit,  on  Manufactures,  on  a  Bank,  on  Currency,  a  second 
Keport  on  Public  Credit.  In  these  reports  he  developed  a 
system  of  national  finance,  which  he  pushed  with  such  force 
and  statesmanship  that  he  induced  Congress  to  accept  every 
one  of  the  following  plans  :  — 

(1)  Import  duties  were  to  provide  for  the  interest  on  the 
public  debt.  (2)  An  excise  on  the  manufacture  of  whisky 
would  raise   additional  money  and  would   make  the  western 


ORGANIZING  THE   GOVERNMENT    (1789-1793)  241 

people  understand  that  they  had  a  government.  (3)  The  debt 
of  the  United  States  was  to  be  funded  in  one  kind  of  obliga- 
tions, and  the  government  was  to  assume  the  state  debts,  so 
as  to  interest  the  capitalists  in  the  success  of  the  government 
and  raise  the  credit  of  the  United  States  for  future  needs. 
(4)  A  national  bank  was  to  perform  the  government  business 
and  furnish  a  safe  currency.  (5)  Protective  import  duties 
were  to  encourage  and  build  up  home  manufactures. 

The  first  tariff  act  became  a  law  before  Hamilton  came  into 
office ;  and  the  debate  on  it  contained  nearly  all  the  arguments 
of  the  twenty  and  more  tariff  debates  that  have  followed.  196.  Na- 
Manufacturers  petitioned  Congress  for  protection;  Penn-  revenueand 
sylvania  wanted  to  protect  "  our  infant  manufactures  "  ;  commerce 
South  Carolinians  thought  protection  "  big  with  oppression  " ; 
midway  men  were  willing  to  lay  duties  to  encourage  young 
industries,  and  manufactures  of  military  material.  The  result 
of  these  discussions  was  the  first  tariff  act  (July  4,  1789), 
which  was  then  thought  to  be  protective;  specific  duties 
were  laid  on  about  thirty  articles,  and  on  other  articles  ad 
valorem  duties  ranging  from  7J  per  cent  to  15  per  cent.  The 
average  rate  of  duty  was  only  about  8|-  per  cent  —  the  lowest 
in  our  federal  history.  Later,  at  Hamilton's  suggestion,  the 
import  duties  were  raised  a  little,  and  an  excise  was  laid  on 
whisky  (March  3,  1791),  amounting  to  7  or  8  cents  a  gallon. 

The  question  of  the  national  debt  was  settled  just  as  Hamil- 
ton wished.  Some  people  wanted  to  take  account  of  the  fact 
that  many  owners  of  certificates  of  domestic  debt  had  bought 
them  at  a  depreciation;  but  Hamilton  carried  his  point  of 
paying  them  in  full  to  the  actual  holders,  on  the  ground  that  if 
the  government  ever  wanted  to  borrow  money,  it  must  issue 
securities  that  would  easily  pass  from  hand  to  hand.  In  a  few 
months  the  surprised  holders  of  government  bonds  began  for  the 
first  time  to  receive  regular  interest  on  their  holdings,  and  the 
securities  of  the  United  States  rose  to  par. 


242  ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 

Hardly  less  important  than  the  financial  improvement  of  the 
country  was  the  reorganization  of  business.  Under  its  power 
to  regulate  coinage,  Congress  passed  an  act  (April  2,  1792) 
establishing  a  United  States  mint,  at  which  any  possessor  of 
gold  or  silver  could  have  it  coined  into  gold  or  silver  pieces 
without  charge  for  the  stamping.  The  act  also  established 
the  ratio  of  fifteen  to  one  between  gold  and  silver;  that  is,  $15 
in  gold  weighed  as  much  as  $1  in  silver.  As  neither  gold  nor 
silver  was  then  produced  in  the  United  States  in  any  quantity, 
the  actual  coinage  was  very  small  for  many  years. 

Under  the  new  power  over  foreign  commerce,  Congress 
passed  a  navigation  act  (July  20,  1789),  laying  a  discriminat- 
ing tonnage  duty  in  favor  of  American-built  and  American- 
owned  shipping ;  and  provided  for  the  national  registration  of 
vessels  and  for  public  lighthouses.  A  little  later,  all  foreign 
vessels  were  excluded  from  the  coasting  trade. 

The  most  far-reaching  commercial  act  was  the  charter  of  the 
United  States  Bank  (February  25,  1791),  which  Hamilton  con- 
197.  The  sidered  the  crowning  part  of  his  whole  system.  It  had 
St^Bank  a  capital  of  $10,000,000,  of  which  the  United  States  gov- 
(1791)  eminent  owned  a  fifth.     In  the  conditions  of  that  time, 

this  was  as  remarkable  as  a  bank  with  a  capital  of  a  thousand 
millions  would  be  to-day.  The  bank  was  expected  to  receive 
deposits ;  to  hold  most  of  the  government  balances ;  to  make 
loans  to  business  men ;  to  put  out  paper  notes  and  hold  "  re- 
serves "  of  gold  and  silver  in  its  vaults ;  to  pay  its  notes  on  de- 
mand ;  and  to  act  as  the  agent  of  the  government.  The  real 
object  of  the  bank  was  much  deeper ;  Hamilton  wanted  to 
teach  the  business  men  of  the  country  that  their  welfare  and 
prosperity  would  be  aided  by  a  great  federal  corporation. 

Hamilton  found  the  constitutional  authority  in  the  clause  of 
the  Constitution  which  gives  Congress  power  to  pass  acts  that 
are  "  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the 
.  .  .  powers  vested  by  this  constitution  in  the  government  of 


ORGANIZING   THE   GOVERNMENT    (1789-1798)  243 

the  United  States."  Jefferson  sent  a  written  opinion  to  the 
President,  in  which  he  argued  that  the  bank  would  not  be  con- 
stitutional, because  Congress  had  no  express  power  to  char- 
ter a  corporation ;  and  that  the  bank  was  not  "  necessary  and 
proper,"  since  all  its  services  to  the  government  could  be 
performed  in  some  other  way.  Hamilton's  answer  was  that 
Congress  had  the  "  implied  power  "  to  carry  out  its  express 
powers  through  a  corporation,  if  that  would  do  the  work 
better ;  and  that  "  necessary  and  proper  "  did  not  mean  "  indis- 
pensable," but  "  suitable."  All  the  northern  votes  except  one 
were  in  favor  of  the  act.  Washington  signed  it,  and  twenty- 
eight  years  later  the  Supreme  Court  adopted  Hamilton's 
doctrine  of  implied  powers,  and  it  is  now  constantly  used  in 
the  legislation  of  Congress.  The  bank  was  at  once  organized, 
with  head  office  in  Philadelphia  and  eight  branches  in  other 
cities,  and  proved  a  safe  and  prosperous  concern. 

Congress  early  began  to  use  its  new  powers  over  the  territo- 
ries. To  prevent  the  settlers  from  pressing  upon  the  Indians, 
Congress  passed  acts  shutting  out  from  trade  or  sojourn     198  West. 

in  the  Indian  lands  evervbody  who  had  not  a  license  from    em  Indians 

(1789-1795) 
the  President.     On  the  other  hand,  a  series  of  new  Indian 

treaties  were  negotiated  and  ratified  by  the  Senate,  for  the 
cession  of  lands  to  accommodate  white  settlers.  Nevertheless, 
Indian  war  burst  out  in  the  Northwest  Territory  in  1789,  and 
the  next  year  forces  under  General  Harmer  were  twice  defeated. 
General  St.  Clair,  governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  set 
out  to  build  a  chain  of  forts  from  the  Ohio  to  Lake  Erie; 
and  in  a  pitched  battle  with  the  Indians  at  the  site  of  Fort 
Recovery  (November  4,  1791)  he  lost  a  thousand  out  of  his  fif- 
teen hundred  men.  Washington's  private  secretary  records  the 
President's  emotion  when  the  news  came :  "  And  yet  to  Rugh 

suffer  that  army  to  be  cut  to  pieces,  hacked,  butchered,        Washing- 
tomahawked  by  a   surprise  —  the  very  thing  I  guarded 
him  against !     0  God,  0  God,  he  is  worse  than  a  murderer  I " 


244 


ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 


"  But/'  he  added,  recovering  himself,  "  General  St.  Clair  shall 
have  justice ! " 

Anthony  Wayne,  who  was  now  put  in  command,  built 
frontier  posts,  and  thoroughly  thrashed  the  Indians  at  the 
Falls  of  the  Maumee,  and  made  possible  the  treaty  of  Green- 
ville (1795),  by  which  the  Indians  gave  up  the  territory  now 
composing  southern  and  eastern  Ohio.  In  Georgia  Indian 
wars  broke  out  in  1793;  but  the  United  States  stood  by  its 
right  to  control  and  negotiate  with  the  tribes,  and  make  treaties 
for  land  cessions. 

Meanwhile    settlers   began    to    pour    into    the    Northwest. 

Virginia  opened  up   her   reserve  of   Military  Bounty  Lands 

199.  Settle-  north    of  the  Ohio.     Then   followed   new   communities 

West  near  Chillicothe  on  the  Scioto,  and  at  Losantiville,  now 

(1789-1800)  called   Cincinnati.     Along  Lake  Erie   settlement   began 

about   1795,  when  Connecticut  sold  the  greater  part  of  the 

Western  Reserve  to  the  Connecticut  Land  Company.     General 

Moses  Cleaveland,  agent 
of  the  company,  in  1796 
founded  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Cuyahoga,  on  Lake 
Erie,  the  city  now  called 
for  the  founder,  Cleve- 
land. Next  year  the 
"Girdled  Road"  was 
made  from  the  Pennsyl- 
vania line  along  the  lake 
to  Cleveland.  In  1800 
the  state  of  Connecticut 
ceded  to  the  United 
States  all  jurisdiction 
over  the  Reserve,  so  that 
the  lake  and  river  settlements  might  be  united  into  a  new  state. 
Indiana  Territory  was  immediately  set  off,  and  in  1802  the 


*%  ot^S 


F^eci),verj7~-S---  \     /  \ 

°    f/:(fS^^^'X11(,!f^   VIRGIN   l(M 


I.fvin.'t' 


The  Northwest  in  1800. 

Showing  territory  ceded  by  treaty  of 
Greenville. 


ORGANIZING  THE   GOVERNMENT   (1789-1793) 


246 


niifii 

lllllpfcj 


Cincinnati  in  1810. 
From  Howe's  Historical  Collections. 

people  of  Ohio  were  authorized  to  form  a  state  government, 
and  were  duly  admitted  to  the  Union  the  next  year. 

Congress  provided  for  the  southern  region  by  an  act  (1790) 
organizing  the  "  Territory  South  of  the  Ohio  River,"  which 
six  years  later  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  the  state  of 
Tennessee ;  it  was  preceded  by  the  admission  of  Kentucky  in 
1792.  Still  farther  south  the  boundary  controversy  with 
Georgia  continued  (pp.  190,  192)  ;  but  Congress  created  the 
Mississippi  Territory  out  of  a  part  of  the  disputed  land  (1798), 
and  four  years  later  Georgia  ceded  everything  west  of  her 
present  boundary,  and  the  long  controversy  as  to  western 
lands  was  ended. 

Till  about  1793  there  were  no  national  political  parties,  for 
the  Anti-Federalists  disappeared  soon  after  the  Constitution 
was   adopted,   and   hardly  a   man   in   the  country  any   200.  Germs 
longer  criticised  the  Constitution.      The   first   division     °  ^r^es 
on  living  issues  came  about  in  Washington's  Cabinet,  (1792) 

where  Jefferson  says  that  he  and  Hamilton  from  day  to  day 


246  ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 

attacked  each  other  "  like  cocks  in  a  pit."  The  two  men  and 
their  followers  absolutely  disagreed  on  the  cardinal  questions 
of  the  nature  of  government.  Hamilton  and  his  friends  be- 
lieved that  the  opinion  of  the  educated  and  property-holding 
classes  must  always  be  the  best  for  the  ignorant  and  the 
poor.  He  is  said  to  have  remarked  once  at  a  dinner :  "  Your 
people,  your  people,  sir,  is  a  great  beast."  The  other  side  was 
represented  by  Jefferson,  who  counted  himself  among  "  those 
who  identify  themselves  with  the  people,  have  confidence  in 
them,  cherish  and  consider  them  as  the  most  honest  and  safe, 
although  not  the  most  wise  depository  of  the  public  interest." 
Hamilton  and  his  friends  believed  further  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  government  to  encourage  private  enterprise,  and  to 
that  end  laid  down  the  principle  of  "  loose  construction,"  or 
"implied  powers."  Jefferson's  theory  of  "strict  construc- 
tion" of  the  Constitution  was  that  government  ought  to  do 
as  little  as  possible,  that  it  ought  to  lay  taxes  only  for  ab- 
solutely necessary  expenses,  and  that  the  development  of  the 
country  ought  to  be  left  to  individuals.  On  almost  the  same 
day  (in  May,  1792)  Hamilton  wrote  that  Madison  and  Jeffer- 
son were  at  the  head  of  a  "faction  decidedly  hostile  to  me, 
.  .  .  and  dangerous  to  the  Union,  peace  and  prosperity  of  the 
country";  and  Jefferson  described  Hamilton  and  his  friends 
as  "  Monarchical  federalists."  In  the  election  of  1792,  though 
there  was  not  a  vote  against  Washington,  there  was  a  strong 
and  almost  successful  attempt  to  displace  Adams  as  Vice 
President;  and  thenceforth  one  body  of  men  throughout  the 
country  took  on  the  party  name  of  Federalist,  and  the  Jeffer- 
sonians  called  themselves  Democrats. 


For  about  three  years,  from  1789  to  1792,  the  friends  of 

201.  Sum-     the  Constitution  had  the  opportunity  of  showing  how  it 

mary  would  work;   they  got   a  large   majority   in   Congress, 

elected  Washington  to  be  President,  and  framed  organizing 


ORGANIZING  THE   GOVERNMENT    (1789-1793)  247 

legislation  which  was  in  harmony  with  the  work  of  the  Con- 
vention. The  reorganization  of  finance  and  commerce  was  the 
next  great  national  task.  The  genius  of  Alexander  Hamilton 
rendered  an  inestimable  service  to  the  country,  for  he  could 
look  forward  into  the  future  and  see  the  probable  outcome  of 
his  plans ;  and  such  was  the  confidence  of  the  business  inter- 
ests of  the  country  in  him  that  he  carried  all  his  measures 
through. 

Against  the  doctrine  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  national 
government  to  make  the  country  prosperous,  Jefferson  and  his 
friends  fought  vigorously ;  and  before  the  end  of  Washington's 
first  administration  appeared  the  elements  of  two  political 
parties,  which  were  bound  to  oppose  each  other  on  all  grave 
questions,  and  which  intended  to  fight  each  other  in  the 
national  elections.  The  reelection  of  Washington  in  1792 
postponed,  but  could  not  prevent,  the  coming  of  strict  party 
government. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Why  did  the  first  Congress  meet  in  New  York?  (2)  Are  Suggestive 
secret  sessions  of  the  Senate  desirable  ?  (3)  Who  have  been  topics 
the  great  Speakers  of  the  House  ?  (4)  Why  are  there  standing 
committees  in  Congress  ?  (5)  Who  have  been  the  great  Secre- 
taries of  State  ?  (6)  Who  have  been  the  great  Secretaries  of 
the  Treasury  ?  (7)  Who  have  been  the  great  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court?  (8)  Why  should  the  President  remove  officers 
without  the  consent  of  the  Senate  ?  (9)  Why  were  the  first  ten 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  necessary  ?  (10)  Jefferson's 
political  principles  from  1781  to  1791.  (11)  Was  Hamilton  a 
monarchist  ? 

(12)    John  Adams  as  Vice   President.     (13)    Life  in  the  first   Search 
Congress.     (14)  History  of  the  Eleventh  Amendment.     (15)   Ham-   t0Pics 
ilton's  share  in  fixing  the  place  of  the  national  capital.     (16)  Op- 
position to   Hamilton   in   Congress.       (17)    Debate   on   the   first 
national  tariff.     (18)  Objections  to  the  first  United  States  Bank. 
(19)  Later  discussions  of   "  implied  powers."      (20)    Jefferson's 
opinions   of   Hamilton.      (21)  Hamilton's    opinions   of  Jefferson. 
(22)  Foundation  of   Cincinnati.     (23)    Foundation   of  Cleveland. 
(24)  Foundation  of  Buffalo.     (25)  The  Yazoo  land  dispute. 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 15 


248 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


Geography 


Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  11,  198  ;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  75-92  ; 
Bassett,  Federalist  System. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  73-82  ;  Walker,  Making  of 
the  Nation,  73-114  ;  Charming,  United  States,  133-147  ;  Johnston, 
Politics,  19-29 ;  Stanwood,  Presidency,  20-41 ;  Bassett,  Federalist 
System;  Wilson,  American  People,  III.  98-128;  Gordy,  Political 
Parties  I.  103-158;  Schouler,  United  States,  I.  70-220;  McMaster, 
United  States,  I.  525-604,  II.  24-57,  07-89,  144-154,  III.  110-123  ; 
Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§  34-52  ;  McDougall,  Fugitive  Slaves, 
§§  16-19  ;  Hinsdale,  Old  Northwest,  296-313,  368-388  ;  Roosevelt, 
Winning' of  the  West,  IV.  1-100;  Winsor,  Westward  Movement, 
375-574  ;  Foster,  Century  of  Diplomacy,  103-135  ;  Lodge,  George 
Washington,  II.  41-123,  218-237,  304-395,  —  Alexander  Hamilton, 
83-150  ;  Ford,  True  George  Washington  ;  Morse,  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, 87-129  ;  Schouler,  Thomas  Jefferson,  153-169  ;  Hunt,  James 
Madison,  167-212. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  71-73,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  76-89, 
-Source  Headers,  III.  §§  57-61;  MacDonald,  Select  Documents, 
nos  6-12;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  10,  74;  Ames,  State  Docu- 
ments on  Federal  Relations,  no.  1,  pp.  1-15;  Maclay,  Journal. 
See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  334-336,  —  Historical 
Sources,  §  80. 

Cooper,  Pioneers;  J.  L.  Allen,  Choir  Invisible  (Ky.);  E.  b. 
Hale,  East  and  West  (Northwest  Territory);  J.  K.  Paulding, 
Westward  Ho  I  (Ky.). 

Wilson,  American  People,  III. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
FEDERALIST   POLICY  (1793-1801) 

Hardly  was  the  new  federal  government  in  operation  when 
it  was  drawn  into  the  confusion  resulting  from  the  revolu- 
tion in  France  which  began  in  1789.  In  September,  202.  The 
1792,  France  was  declared  a  republic ;  soon  after,  King  ^^ution 
Louis  XVI.  was  executed  by  his  people  (January  21,  (1789-1793) 
1793) ;  ten  days  later  the  French  republic  declared  war  against 
Great  Britain  and  Spain.  The  national  sympathy  of  America 
went  out  to  France  as  a  friend,  ally,  and  sister  republic,  appar- 
ently struggling  against  tyranny.  Furthermore,  by  the  treaty 
of  1778  the  United  States  was  bound  to  defend  the  French 
West  Indies  in  case  of  "defensive  war."  Since  the  British 
had  recently  been  enemies,  and  were  still  on  bad  terms  with 
the  United  States,  the  French  government  expected  that  the 
United  States  would  directly,  or  by  connivance,  join  in  the 
war  against  Great  Britain  and  Spain ;  and  they  sent  over  a  new 
ambassador,  Edmond  Genet,  to  carry  out  that  policy. 

When   the    news  of   the  outbreak    of  war  was    received  in 
America,  Congress  was  not  in  session,  and  President  Washing- 
ton decided  quickly  that  the  country  was  in  no  condition 
for  war.     Even  Jefferson,  whom  Hamilton  accused  of  "  a     of  neutral- 
womanish  attachment  for  France,  and  a  womanish  resent-      lty  (1793) 
nient  against  England,"  reluctantly  admitted  that  the  treaty  of 
1778  had  no  just  reference  to  the  changed  conditions  of  the 
time.     The  President   accordingly,  on  April  22,  1793,  issued 
what  is  usually  called  the  Proclamation  of  Neutrality,  a  decla- 
ration that  the  United  States  would  "  pursue  a  conduct  friendly 
and  impartial  towards  the  belligerent  powers." 

Gen§t  landed  in  Charleston  (April  8,  1793),  and  began  to 

249 


250  ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 

issue  privateering  commissions  to  Americans  and  to  enlist  them 
for  the  French  service.  He  was  received  in  Philadelphia  with 
enthusiasm,  and  Democratic  clubs  were  formed  on  the  model 
of  the  French  revolutionary  clubs.  Genet  at  first  accepted  the 
proclamation  of  neutrality,  but  he  did  not  scruple  to  enlist  men 
in  the  West  for  an  expedition  to  capture  New  Orleans  from  the 
Spanish,  a  plan  which  pleased  the  Kentuckians.  Then  he  lost 
his  judgment  and  in  his  violence  and  fury  overreached  himself: 
he  fitted  out  a  cruiser,  the  Petit  Democrat,  in  Philadelphia,  and, 
in  defiance  of  Jefferson's  protest,  sent  her  to  sea.  He  lost 
standing  further  by  trying  to  force  Washington  to  call  an 
extra  session  of  Congress  ;  and  in  December,  1793,  his  own 
government  was  weary  of  him,  and  sent  a  recall. 

The  naval  war  involved  all  the  principal  European  maritime 

nations  :    Dutch,  Spanish,  French,  and   British  merchantmen 

204.  Eng-      were  chased  on  every  sea.     The  United  States  was  the 

land  and        principal  neutral,  and  on  the  rights  of  neutrals  England 
neutral  . 

commerce      and   the   United    States   quickly   found  that  they  had 
(1793-1794)   different  views  :  — 

(1)  The  United  States  admitted  that  neutral  ships  could  be 
captured  anywhere  on  the  sea  if  bound  to  a  port  actually  block- 
aded by  a  squadron  ;  but  the  British  claimed  the  same  right 
on  a  "  paper  blockade,"  that  is,  a  mere  notice,  not  backed  up  by 
a  blockading  fleet. 

(2)  The  United  States  admitted  the  right  to  capture  ships 
having  on  board  "  contraband,"  meaning  military  stores  destined 
for  an  enemy  ;  but  the  British  claimed  that  provisions  were  also 
contraband,  and  seized  American  food  ships  bound  to  French 
ports. 

(3)  The  United  States  insisted  that  "  free  ships  make  free 
goods  " ;  that  is,  that  an  American  ship  was  not  subject  to 
capture  simply  because  it  had  the  property  of  Frenchmen 
on  board.  The  British  took  such  ships  wherever  they  could 
find  them. 


FEDERALIST  POLICY    (1793-1801)  251 

(4)  Great  Britain,  under  what  was  called  the  "Rule  of 
1756,"  proceeded  to  capture  American  vessels  bound  from 
French  colonies  to  American  ports,  "because  such  trade  had  not 
been  allowed  by  France  in  time  of  peace. 

Forthwith  scores  of  American  ships  were  taken  as  prizes 
by  British  cruisers  and  privateers.  So  far  as  they  had  oppor- 
tunity, the  French  were  as  violent  as  the  English ;  they  seized 
provision  ships  and  British  goods  in  American  ships.  If  there 
had  been  a  commercial  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  much  of  the 
trouble  with  that  country  would  have  been  prevented. 

The  trouble  was  aggravated  by  the  method  of  recruiting  for 

British  ships  of  war  by  "  impressing  "  (seizing)  sailors  on  shore, 

or  from  British  merchant  ships.    Under  the  theory  that  a        205  Im- 

man  born  in  England  remained  an  Englishman  as  long     pressment 

and  the  war 
as  he  lived,  the  British  extended  their  impressment  to  feVer 

English  sailors  employed  in  American  ships,  and  to  (1793-1794) 
Englishmen  born  and  recently  naturalized  in  the  United 
States ;  often,  also,  they  impressed  Englishmen  born  who 
were  American  citizens  at  the  time  of  the  treaty  of  peace, 
and  even  American  sailors  born  in  America,  and  no  more 
subject  to  Great  Britain  than  to  the  emperor  of  China.  Con- 
gress in  April,  1794,  was  on  the  point  of  declaring  war  against 
Great  Britain,  but  once  more  Washington's  calm  good  sense 
saved  the  country  from  a  great  danger.  He  nominated  John 
Jay,  then  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  as  special  envoy 
to  make  a  last  remonstrance  to  Great  Britain. 

After  nearly  four  months'  negotiation,  Jay  signed  a  treaty 
in  London  (November  19,  1794)  which  was  intended  to  settle 
all  but  one  of  the  four  controversies  then  outstanding :     206.  Peace 
(1)  To  carry  out  the  treaty  of  1783,  the  British  agreed  to     witn  Great 
.  -,-        ,   -.   /        •         1      -.         /     «™x     ,  Britain  and 

evacuate  the  undisputed  American  territory  (p.  199)  ;  but  Spain 

then  and  thereafter  would  make  no  compensation  for  slaves  (1794-1795> 
carried  away  in  1783.     On  the  other  hand,  the  United  States 
undertook  to  make  compensation  to  British  merchants  who 


252  ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 

had  not  been  able  to  collect  debts  due  in  1775 ;  and  the  loyalist 
question  was  dropped.  (2)  For  the  capture  of  American  vessels 
the  British  government  agreed  to  make  a  compensation,  if 
a  commission  of  arbitration  so  found;  and  eventually  paid 
$1,000,000.  Jay  gave  up  the  principle  that  "free  ships  make 
free  goods,"  and  agreed  that  provisions  under  some  circum- 
stances might  be  held  contraband.  (3)  A  commercial  treaty 
to  last  a  term  of  years  was  negotiated,  but  the  British  would 
not  open  trade  to  the  West  Indies  on  terms  that  the  United 
States  would  accept.  (4)  On  impressment,  Jay  could  get  no 
agreement. 

In  general  the  Jay  treaty  did  not  satisfy  the  shipowners 
and  commercial  people,  and  all  the  weight  of  Washington's 
influence  was  necessary  to  induce  the  Senate  to  ratify  it  by 
the  bare  constitutional  majority  of  20  to  10.  The  House  at 
first  showed  a  strong  inclination  to  refuse  the  appropriation 
necessary  to  carry  out  the  treaty,  but  voted  the  money  at  last ; 
and  war  with  Great  Britain  was  thus  averted. 

Meanwhile  a  very  favorable  settlement  was  made  with  Spain 
by  a  treaty  of  1795,  which  gave  us  the  desired  commercial 
arrangements,  the  still  more  desired  navigation  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  an  acknowledgment  of  the  southern  boundary 
as  laid  down  by  the  British  treaty  of  1783. 

While  Jay  was  negotiating  his  treaty,  trouble  broke  out  in 

western   Pennsylvania,  where  the  low  national  excise   duties 

207.   Wilis-  were  especially  felt  by  the  many  small  distillers.     Sev- 

rJction*"        eia*  nundred  armed  men  attacked  the  house  of  Inspector- 

(1794)  General  Neville,  and  it  was  plundered  and  burned  (1794). 

The  mail  from  Pittsburg  eastward  was  robbed,  and  about  seven 

thousand  men  assembled  at  Braddock's  Field  and  marched  to 

Pittsburg  to  intimidate  the  town. 

Since  Governor  Mifflin  of  Pennsylvania  would  not  act, 
Washington  disregarded  him  and  called  out  thirteen  thousand 
militia  from  New  Jersey,   Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Vir- 


FEDERALIST   POLICY    (1798-1801)  253 

ginia.  In  October  the  little  army  crossed  the  mountains  and 
came  down  into  the  western  counties,  but  found  not  an 
insurrectionist  in  arms,  for  most  of  the  people  who  were 
wanted  had  decamped.  For  their  share  in  the  rising,  two 
men  were  found  guilty  of  treason  and  sentenced  to  death,  but 
pardoned  by  the  President.  In  his  messages  to  Congress 
Washington  connected  the  rebellion  with  "certain  combina- 
tions of  men,"  or,  as  the  Senate  put  it,  "  self-created  societies," 
that  is,  with  the  Democratic  clubs  founded  in  1793.  The  shot 
went  home,  and  Jefferson  and  his  friends  —  though  they  had 
no  part  in  instigating  the  rebellion —  soon  thought  it  desirable 
to  find  a  party  name  which  had  not  such  associations  with 
France,  and  began  to  call  themselves  Republicans. 

Throughout    this  difficult  period,   George  Washington   was 
the  most  clear-headed  and  unyielding  friend  of  good  national 
government.     As  President  he  showed  one  of  the  great-   208.  Retire- 
est  qualities  of  an  administrator ;  namely,  the  power  to   Washington 
judge  and  select  men.     He  gave  a  never-failing  support  (1796-1797) 
to  Hamilton,   and  did  his  best  to  keep  on   good  terms  with 
Jefferson.     It  was  a  great  trial  to  Washington  that  after  1792 
the  newspapers  began  to  abuse  him,  and  even  his  friend  Jef- 
ferson wrote  a  letter  criticising  him,  to  a  correspondent  named 
Mazzei,  which  found  its   way   into  print.     Jefferson  tells  us 
that  one-  day  at  a  cabinet  meeting  the  President  vehemently 
declared  "that  he  had  never   repented  but  once  the  having 
slipped  the  moment  of  resigning  his  office,  and  that  was  every 
moment  since,  that  ...  he  had  rather  be  on  his  farm  than  to 
be  made  emperor  of  the  world,  and  yet  that  they  were  charging  ' 
him  with  wanting  to  be  a  king !  " 

In  his  celebrated  farewell  address  of  September  17,  1796 
(composed  in  part  by  Hamilton,  but  full  of  Washington's 
principles),  Washington  rose  to  the  highest  patriotism  and 
statesmanship.  His  theme  was  Union;  union  of  the  North 
and  South,  union  of  the  East  and  Wrest,  a  union  which  would 


254 


ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 


be  in  danger  if  the  United  States  took  sides  with  either  party 
in  the  European  wars.  Hence  he  advised  his  countrymen  to 
keep  out  of  "  permanent  alliances  with  any  portion  of  the  for- 
eign world." 

As  Washington  announced  that  he  intended  to  retire  to 
private  life,  the  two  political  parties  each  tried  to  elect  his 
successor  in  the  presidential  election  of  1796 ;  and  by  the 
close  electoral  vote  of  71  to  68  Vice-President  Adams  was 
elected  President.  The  Federalists  did  not  unite  on  any  one 
candidate  for  Vice  President ;  and  by  a  defect  in  the  Constitu- 
tion as  it  then  read,  the  rival  candidate  for  President,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  was  thus  elected  to  the  lower  office. 

John  Adams  of  Massachusetts  was  one  of  the  two  or  three 

men  most  responsible  for  the  Revolution.     He  served  in  the 

209.  Ad-        two  Continental  Con- 


then     was 


ministra-  rrresspq 

tionof  John  Sresses> 

Adams  minister   to    France 

(1797-1801)  and  tQ  Holland?  and 

was  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  peace  of 
Paris.  In  1785  he  was 
sent  as  first  minister  to 
Great  Britain,  and  when 
the  king  laughingly  hinted 
that  Adams  was  no  friend 
to  France,  he  replied  aptly, 
Adams,  "That  opinion,  sir,  is 

not  mistaken;  I  must 
avow  to   your   Maj- 
esty, I  have  no  attachment 
but  to  my  own  country." 


Works, 
VIII.  258 


John  Adams,  1783. 

In  court  dress ;  from  the  portrait 

by  Copley. 


After  eight  years'  service  as  Vice  President,  Adams  became 
President  in  1797,  and  he  made  the  fundamental  mistake  of 
adopting  his  predecessor's  Cabinet,  which  felt  itself  superior  to 


FEDERALIST   POLICY    (1793-1801) 


255 


its  chief  and  which  took  counsel  with  his  personal  enemy, 
Hamilton.  Adams  finally  dismissed  Timothy  Pickering,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  forced  another  Cabinet  officer  to  resign,  after 
which  he  had  some  peace  and  comfort  in  Cabinet  meetings. 

In  getting  out  of  trouble  with  Great  Britain,  the  United  States 
was  plunged  a  second  time  into  difficulty  with  the  French, 
who  felt  the  bitterest  resentment  over  the  Jay  treaty,     210.  X.  Y. 
because  it  gave  to  Great  Britain   privileges  denied  to         '    verSy 
France.     In  retaliation,  the  French  in  1796  again  began  (1796-1798) 
to  seize  American  vessels;    and  when  Charles   C.  Pinckney 
arrived  in  Paris  with  a  commission  as  minister,  he  was  not 

received  by  the  Directory  which 
was  then  the  French  government, 
and  later  he  was  warned  to  leave 
France.  In  a  message  on  this  insult 
(May  16,  1797)  Adams  said,  "Such 
attempts  ought  to  be  repelled  with 
a  decision  which  shall  convince 
France  and  the  world  that  we  are 
not  a  degraded  people,  humiliated 
under  a  colonial  spirit  of  fear  and 
sense  of  inferiority." 

Still  Adams  could  not  bear  to  see 
his  country  drawn  into  war  if  he 
could  help  it,  and  he  therefore  com- 
missioned Pinckney,  John  Marshall  of  Virginia  (two  Federal- 
ists), and  Elbridge  Gerry  of  Massachusetts  (a  Democratic 
Republican)  to  make  a  last  effort  to  come  to  an  understanding 
with  France.  After  some  months,  dispatches  arrived,  stating 
that  the  French  government,  incensed  at  Adams's  message,  re- 
fused officially  to  receive  the  commissioners;  and  that  three 
men,  called  in  the  dispatches  "  X.,  Y.,  and  Z.,"  came  unofficially 
to  inform  them  that  if  they  wanted  a  treaty,  they  must  furnish 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  "  for  the  pocket  of  the  Directory 


Abigail  Adams,  about  1790. 

Wife  of  John  Adams ;  from 
Copley's  portrait. 


256  ORGANIZATION   AND    EXPANSION 

and  ministers."  When  Mr.  X.  said  plainly  to  the  envoys, 
Am.  State  "Gentlemen,  you  do  not  speak  to /the  point;  it  is  money: 
Foreign  **  *s  exPecte(l  that  you  will  offer  money,"  they  responded 
11.157  tirmly,  "No,  no,  no;  not  a  sixpence."     And  the  Presi- 

dent thereupon  notified  Congress  (June  27,  1798),  "I  will 
never  send  another  minister  to  France  without  assurances  that 
he  will  be  received,  respected,  and  honored  as  becomes  the  rep- 
resentative of  a  great,  free,  powerful,  and  independent  nation." 
Adams's  protest  at  the  shameful  attempt  to  exact  bribes  from 
American  ministers  raised  him  to  the  highest  popularity  of 

211.  Alien  his  whole  life.  Songs  were  written  in  his  honor,  among 
tion  Acts  them  Hopkinson's  Hail  Columbia.  The  Republicans  were 
(1798)  so  stunned  by  the  behavior  of  France  that  they  could  not 

stop  four  sweeping  pieces  of  anti-French  legislation  by  Con- 
gress in  1798 :  (1)  a  Naturalization  Act  raising  the  required 
term  of  residence  to  fourteen  years;  (2)  the  Alien  Friends' 
Act,  authorizing  the  President  to  expel  aliens  in  time  of  peace ; 
(3)  the  Alien  Enemies'  Act,  for  the  expulsion    of  aliens  (by 
which  was  meant  Frenchmen)  in  time  of  war;  (4)  the  Sedi- 
tion Act,  making  it  a  crime  to  publish  libels  against  the  gov- 
ernment, or  Congress,  or  the  President.     The  Sedition  Act  was 
passed  because  the  Republican  pro-French    newspaper  press 
Annals  of      was  violent  and  abusive;  as  an  example  the  Federalists 
1797-1799       quoted  from  the  Aurora,  a  Jeffersonian  newspaper,  which 
p.  2097  called  Adams  "  a  person  without  patriotism,  without  phi- 

losophy, without  a  taste  for  the  fine  arts  —  a  mock  monarch." 

Late  in  1798  the  legislatures  of  Kentucky  and  Virginia  each 
passed  a  series  of  resolutions,  drawn  up  by  Jefferson  and  Madi- 

212.  Vir-       son  respectively,  in  which  they  attacked  the  Alien  and 

gmia  and  Sedition  Acts,  declared  that  they  were  contrary  to  the 
Kentucky  .  J  J 

resolutions    Constitution  and  hence  were  "not  law,  but  utterly  void, 
(1798-1800)  an(j  0f  no  force)»  an(i  called  upon  the  other  states  to  join 
them  in  remonstrance.     A  second  and  stronger  series  of  Ken- 
tucky resolutions  was  passed  in  1799,  containing  the  dangerous 


FEDERALIST   1'OLICY    (1793-1801)  257 

declaration  that  "  nullification  by  the  states  of  all  acts  of  Con- 
gress that  are  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution,  is  the  rightful 
remedy."  These  resolutions,  which  were  really  a  kind  of  politi- 
cal platform,  attracted  great  attention  throughout  the  country, 
and  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  in  the  end  caused  the  down, 
fall  of  the  Federalist  party. 

After  the  X.  Y.  Z.  affair,  there  seemed  nothing  for  it  but 
war  with  France.     In  1798  Congress  declared  the  treaties  of 
1778   at   an  end,  and   began  to  build   a   fleet ;   and  the        213.  The 
Navy   Department    was    organized,    with    a    Secretary.      navaiwar 
Congress  could  not  quite  bring  itself  to  declare  war;  but   (1798-1800) 
it  did  authorize  the  capture  of  French  cruisers  and,  under  some 
circumstances,  of  merchantmen,  by  warships  and  by  Ameri- 
can privateers,  of  which  365  were  commissioned  in  a  single 
year.     The  American  frigate  Constellation  captured  the  French 
frigate  Vengeance  ;  and  the  federal  ship  Boston  took  the  French 
corvette  Berceau. 

Just  at  this  time,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  rose  to  supreme 
power  in  France ;  and  he  saw  no  object  in  fighting  America. 
Indirectly  he  sent  word  that  he  was  willing  to  make  peace, 
and  Adams,  against  the  advice  of  his  party  friends  and  his 
Cabinet,  in  1799  directed  negotiations  resulting  in  a  treaty  of 
peace  (September  30,  1800),  which  for  a  time  safeguarded 
American  neutral  trade. 

The  death  of  Washington,  in  1799,  took  away  the  balance 

wheel   of  American   politics,  for  Adams  offended  his   party 

associates  and  never  had  any  hold  on  the  Republicans.      214.  Elec- 

,  t      tion  of  Jef- 

Though  Adams  would  not  apply  the  Alien  Act,  several  fersor 

prosecutions  of  Republican  journalists  under  the  Sedi-  (1800-1801) 
tion  Act  were  unfairly  pressed ;  and  such  a  protest  was  made 
that  the  Federalists  were  startled  at  their  own  work.  Mean- 
while the  Federalist  journals  were  allowed  to  indulge  in  publi- 
cations which  were  at  least  as  scurrilous  as  those  of  their 
opponents. 


258 


ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 


As  the  time  drew  on  for  the  presidential  election  of  1800,  a 
long-standing  fend  between  Hamilton  and  Adams  came  to  the 
surface.  Hamilton  had  twice  already  tried  by  some  trick  to 
set  Adams  off  the  track  that  led  to  the  presidency;  but  he 
could  not  prevent  his  rival  from  again  receiving  the  party 
nomination.  Jefferson,  the  candidate  of  the  Republicans, 
was  supported  by  Aaron  Burr,  of  New  York,  who  was  nomi- 
nated for  Vice  President ;  and  that  state  changed  over  from 
the  Federalist  column.  The  result  was  that  the  Republican 
candidates  got  73  electoral  votes  and  Adams  got  only  65. 
John  Adams  and  his  party  were  defeated. 

Every  Republican  elector  voted  both  for  Jefferson  and  for 
Burr,  so  that  there  was  a  technical  tie.     As  the  Constitution 

then  stood,  the  House  had 
the  power  to  select  be- 
tween these  two  men, 
each  state  delegation  cast- 
ing one  vote.  The  Federal- 
ists had  the  majority  by 
states,  and,  in  the  face  of 
the  intention  of  the  Re- 
publican voters  to  make 
Jefferson  President,  many 
of  the  Federalists  voted 
for  Burr,  and  came  near 
electing  him.  Jefferson  and  his  friends  were  furious,  and  even 
Hamilton  advised  his  friends  to  vote  for  Jefferson,  who  in  the 
end  was  chosen  (February  17,  1801)  by  10  states  to  4.  The 
Federalists  looked  on  the  success  of  Jefferson  as  the  undoing 
of  the  work  of  twenty  years  of  effort  to  establish  a  firm 
government;  and  their  conduct  left  in  Jefferson's  mind  a 
strong  feeling  of  injury  and  distrust.  This  dangerous  crisis, 
in  which  the  will  of  the  people  was  almost  set  aside  through 
an  imperfection  in  the  Constitution,  led  to  the  proposal  of  the 


White  House,  Washington. 
Built  in  1800  ;  additions  in  1902. 


FEDERALIST   POLICY    (1793-1801)  259 

Twelfth  Amendment  (ratified  September,  1804)  under  which 
the  President  and  Vice  President  are  voted  for   separately. 


The  Federalist  party  remained  in  power  from  1793  to  1801. 
In  his  second  administration,  Washington  was  obliged  to  accept 
the  fact  that  there  were  two  parties,  and  he  remained  a  215.  Sum- 
Federalist  to  the  end  of  his  days.  His  party  was  weak  in  mary 
Congress,  and  nothing  but  Washington's  great  personal  popu- 
larity carried  the  country  through  the  four  crises  of  his  second 
administration  —  neutrality,  the  Whisky  Insurrection,  danger 
of  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  the  Jay  treaty. 

When  Washington  retired,  party  spirit  grew  more  violent ; 
Adams  was  neither  tactful  nor  discreet,  but  he  stood  for  the 
rights  of  his  country,  and  his  bold  messages  made  him  for  the 
time  a  truly  national  President. 

In  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  Congress  stretched  its  con- 
stitutional powers  to  their  utmost  and  stirred  up  the  fiercest 
feelings  of  resentment.  The  Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolu- 
tions were  a  protest  against  the  Federalist  policy,  and  also  the 
first  clear  statement  of  the  principle  of  state  sovereignty, 
which  in  its  completest  form  led  to  the  secession  of  1860- 
1861. 

The  country  was  divided  on  the  question  of  going  to  war 
with  France,  and  the  Federalist  party  was  divided  on  the  ques- 
tion of  making  peace.  In  1800  the  Republicans  succeeded  in 
electing  Jefferson  as  President. 

TOPICS 

(1)  What  were  the  main  causes  of  the  French  revolution?  Suggestive 
(2)  Why  should  the  United  States  have  been  expected  to  defend  oplcs 
French  territory  in  America  ?  (3)  What  is  "contraband  of  war  "  ? 
(4)  Why  did  New  England  object  to  the  Jay  treaty  ?  (5)  Why 
should  Washington  wish  to  be  on  his  farm  ?  (6)  Who  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  insult  to  our  ministers  in  the  X.  Y.  Z.  affair? 
(7)    What    were    the    objections    to    the    Alien    Friends'   Act  ? 


260 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


Search 
topics 


(8)  What  were  the  objections  to  the  Sedition  Act?  (9)  Why 
would  not  Congress  formally  declare  war  on  France  in  1798-1799  ? 
(10)  Why  did  Hamilton  dislike  Joiin  Adams?  (11)  Why  did 
Hamilton  advise  his  friends  in  Congress  to  vote  for  Jefferson? 

(12)  Cabinet  discussion  on  the  proclamation  of  neutrality. 
(13)  Reception  of  Genet  in  Philadelphia.  (14)  Genet's  complaints 
against  Washington.  (15)  Instances  of  impressment  of  American 
seamen.  (16)  Incidents  of  the  Whisky  Insurrection.  (17)  John 
Marshall  as  one  of  the  three  commissioners  to  Paris.  (18)  Ad- 
dresses to  John  Adams.  (19)  Did  Virginia  and  Kentucky  mean 
to  resist  the  United  States  in  1798-1799?  (20)  Capture  of  the 
Insurgente.  (21)  Cooper  case  of  trial  for  sedition.  (22)  Callender 
sedition  case.  (23)  Were  the  "  Democratic  clubs  "  responsible  for 
the  Whisky  Insurrection  ? 


Geography 
Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  map,  p.  198  ;  Bassett,  Federalist  System. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  83-92  ]  Walker,  Making  of  the 
Nation,  115-167;  Channing,  United  States,  147-159 ;  Johnston, 
Politics,  30-54  ;  Stanwood,  Presidency,  42-73  ;  Bassett,  Federalist 
System  ;  Schouler,  United  States,  I.  238-514  ;  McMaster,  United 
States,  II.  89-144,  165-537;  Wilson,  American  People,  III. 
128-163  ;  Gordy,  Political  Parties,  I.  159-382  ;  Foster,  Century 
of  Diplomacy,  136-184;  Maclay,  United  States  Navy,  I.  155-213; 
Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  IV.  101-257  ;  Lodge,  George 
Washington,  II.  123-219,  237-298,—  Alexander  Hamilton,  151- 
233  ;  Morse,  Thomas  Jefferson,  130-185,  —John  Adams,  251-318  ; 
Merwin,  Aaron  Burr,  71-90;  Conant,  Alexander  Hamilton,  100- 
135 ;  Hunt,  James  Madison,  213-270  ;  Stevens,  Albert  Gallatin, 
1-169. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  74-77,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  90-105, 
—  Source  Readers,  III.  §§  74,  87,  88,  99 ;  MacDonald,  Select  Docu- 
ments, nos.  13-23;  American  History  Leaflets,  no.  15;  Ames, 
State  Documents  on  Federal  Relations,  no.  1,  pp.  15-26  ;  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  Translations  and  Reprints,  VI.  no.  2  ;  Old  South 
Leaflets,  nos.  4,  38,  78,  103 ;  Hill,  Liberty  Documents,  ch.  xviii.  ; 
Johnston,  American  Orations,  I.  84-143.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teach- 
ers' Ass'n,  Syllabus,  336,  337,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  80. 

Eggleston,  American  War  Ballads,  I.  102-112;  M.  E.  Scannell, 
Little  Jarvis  (French  War)  ;  Cooper,  Miles  Wallingford ;  H.  H. 
Brackenridge,  Modern  Chivalry  (Whisky  Rebellion)  ;  Carter 
Goodloe,  Calvert  of  Strathore  (France). 

Wilson,  American  People,  III. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 


EXPANSION  OF  THE   REPUBLIC  (1801-1809) 

The  history  of  the  United  States  from  1801  to  1809  is  almost 
a  biography  of  the  President,  Thomas  Jefferson;  the  people 

liked  him   and  216. 

Congress  fol-  ,$££ 
lowed  him.  exponent  of 
Born  in  1743,  democra°y 
the  son  of  a  Virginia 
planter,  owner  of 
land  and  slaves,  a 
student  of  William 
and  Mary  College, 
Jefferson  neverthe- 
less had  a  Yankee 
love  of  novelty,  an 
interest  in  all  sorts 
of  farm  machinery, 
sciences,  and  discov- 
eries. A  visitor  said 
of  him  that  he  was 
"  at  once  a  musician, 
skilled  in  drawing,  a 
geometrician,  an  as- 
tronomer, a  natural  philosopher,  and  statesman."  In  public 
service  he  had  a  career  hardly  paralleled  in  versatility  by  that 
of  any  other  American.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
Assembly  at  twenty-six  years  of  age,  in  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, governor  of  Virginia  in  1781,  then  two  years  a  member 

261 


HP 

IPk£  "4P 

•    *- 

III 

jB 

_'■■  /'..v^.'- 

Thomas  Jefferson,  about  1800. 
From  the  portrait  by  Stuart. 


262  ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 

of   the  Congress  of   the    Confederation,  then   ambassador   to 
France  for  five  years,  and  Secretary  of  State  (1790-1793). 

This  highly  aristocratic  and  intellectual  gentleman  preached 
extreme  doctrines  of  political  equality  and  popular  government. 
As  President  he  insisted  on  what  he  called  "republican  sim- 
plicity "  in  the  White  House  and  in  public  intercourse.  Hence 
he  began  the  present  practice  of  making  all  presidential  com- 
munications to  Congress  in  written  messages  (his  predecessors 
had  delivered  formal  addresses  to  Congress  in  person).  He 
was  a  strong  advocate  of  local  government  on  the  New  England 
town-meeting  plan,  and  of  public  education.  The  foundation 
of  his  theories  of  government  was  confidence  in  the  average 
man;  he  opposed  the  use  of  force  even  to  keep  public  order. 
Jefferson  was  never  a  good  speaker  and  disliked  appearing  in 
public;  yet  no  man  of  his  time  had  such  influence  over  the 
people.  His  principle  of  political  equality  he  found  in  the 
minds  of  his  countrymen ;  he  stated  it  and  made  it  familiar, 
and  in  the  end  it  led  to  the  giving  up  of  the  requirement  of 
ownership  of  property,  payment  of  taxes,  or  religious  belief,  as 
qualifications  for  voters  or  for  officeholders. 

One  of  Jefferson's  favorite   beliefs  was   that   governments 

ought  to  do  as  little  as  possible.     Hence,  as  soon  as  he  became 

217.  Re-        President,  he  began  to  cut  down  the  small  army  and  navy, 

publican        an(^  ^    reduce  the  national  debt.     In  this  policy  he  had 
policy  r       J 

(1801-1805)  the  aid  of  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Albert  Gallatin 

of  Pennsylvania,  a  Genevan  by  birth,  a  member  of  Congress 
from  1795  to  1801, where  he  was  the  Democratic  critic  of  Ham- 
ilton's finance,  and  an  able  and  honest  statesman.     Gallatin  at 
Jefferson,       once  set  to  work  to  extinguish  the  debt,  a  task  which  Jef- 

Works  ferson  said  was  "vital  to  the  destinies  of  our   govern- 

(Ford), 

IX.  264  ment."     Under  the  Federalists  the  debt  had  increased  a 

little,  and  in  1801  stood  at  $83,000,000 ;  but  from  1801  to  1812, 

by  prudent  reduction  of  expenses  and  increase  of  revenues,  it 

was  brought  down  to  $45,000,000 


EXPANSION   OF   THE    REPUBLIC    (1801-1809)  263 

It  was  easier  for  Jefferson  to  pay  off  the  national  debt  than 
to  settle  what  his  party  friends  thought  their  reasonable  claims 
to  office..  Great  pressure  was  put  on  him  to  follow  the  prac- 
tice usual  in  the  state  politics  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and 
other  states,  by  turning  out  the  officeholders,  nearly  all  of 
whom  were  Federalists.  In  his  inaugural  address,  March  4, 
1801,  Jefferson  disclaimed  any  intention  to  ignore  his  political 
opponents.  "  We  have  called  by  different  names  brethren  Contempora- 
of  the  same  principle,"  said  he;  "we  are  all  republi-  ries'  Iv-  345 
cans,  we  are  all  federalists."  Later  he  announced  that  he 
should  appoint  none  but  Republicans,  until  the  Republicans 
and  Federalists  in  office  were  about  equal ;  after  which,  said 
he,  "I  .  .  .  shall  return  with  joy  to  that  state  of  things  when 
the  only  questions  concerning  a  candidate  shall  be,  Is  he  hon- 
est? Is  he  capable?  Is  he  faithful  to  the  Constitution?" 
Before  he  could  reach  that  millennium,  he  removed  or  replaced 
109  civil  officials,  or  about  one  third  of  all  the  officeholders  in 
important  posts. 

In  the  last  days  of  Adams's  term  twenty-three  new  judicial 
officers  were  created  —  often  called  "  midnight  judges."    Jeffer- 
son was  furious  at  what  he  called  Adams's  indecent  con-       Jefferson, 
duct  "  in  crowding  of  appointments  .  .  .  after  he  knew  he  /•/T07^ 

was  making    them  .  .  .  not   for  himself,  even  to   nine  VIII.  45 

o'clock  of  the  night  at  twelve  o'clock  of  which  he  was  to  go 
out  of  office."  Therefore,  in  the  first  session  of  the  Repub- 
lican Congress,  the  new  judgeships  were  abolished  (1802),  and 
Adams's  appointees  lost  their  places.  When  the  Supreme 
Court  tried  to  protect  some  minor  officers,  whom  Jefferson 
had  refused  to  recognize,  in  the  case  of  Marbury  vs.  Madison 
(1803),  Jefferson's  friends  retorted  by  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  impeach  and  remove  Samuel  Chase,  one  of  the  Supreme 
Court  justices. 

Jefferson's  love  of  peace  was  sorely  tried  by  the  Mohamme- 
dan pirates  of  Morocco,  Algiers,  Tripoli,  and  Tunis,  who  cap- 


EXPANSION  OF  THE   REPUBLIC  (1801-1809)  265 

tured  vessels  and  enslaved  the  crews.     Like  most  nations,  the 
United  States  paid  an  annual  tribute  to  these  ruffians ;       21g   Bar 
but  the  more  they  got,  the  more  dissatisfied  they  were.      bary  wars 
The  pasha  of  Tripoli  said,  "We  are  all  hungry  and  if  (1802-1806> 
we  are  not  provided  for,  we  soon  get  sick  and  peevish."      ^papers, 
Although  Jefferson  had  expressed  a  wish  to  coop  up  the        Foreign, 
navy   under   his  own   eye,  in  the  East  Branch   of   the 
Potomac,  he  had  to  use  it  when  Tripoli  declared  war  on  the 
United  States.    From  1801  to  1805  American  squadrons  fought 
the  Tripolitan  pirates  till  the  pasha  gave  in.     Tunis,  Algiers, 
and  Morocco  yielded  without  serious  fighting. 

Jefferson  was  a  man  who  felt  strongly  the  duty  of  looking 
out  for  the  nation's  interest ;  and  he  was  greatly  aroused  by  a 
change  in  the  ownership  of  Louisiana.     Napoleon  Bona-     219.  Ques- 
parte  was  just  then  at   peace  with  Great   Britain,  and  Orleans 

formed  a  scheme  of  colonial  empire,  for  which  he  wanted  (1800-1802) 
Louisiana.  What  was  Louisiana?  To  answer  this  question 
we  must  keep  in  mind  that  the  regions  east  and  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River  had  not  the  same  territorial  history.  Both 
sides  were  claimed  by  France  under  La  Salle's  discoveries  and 
the  settlement  of  1699  (§§  49,  94).  In  1763  the  whole  east- 
ern half,  except  the  Island  of  Orleans  (the  triangle  between 
the  'Mississippi,  the  Bayou  Manchac,  and  the  Gulf,  includ- 
ing New  Orleans),  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain,  including  the 
strip  along  the  Gulf  coast  from  the  Island  of  Orleans  to  the 
river  Perdido,  to  which  the  British  gave  the  name  of  West 
Florida.  The  whole  western  half,  together  with  the  Island  of 
Orleans,  went  to  Spain  (§  101).  In  the  Revolution,  Spain 
conquered  from  Great  Britain  the  strip  from  the  Island  of 
Orleans  to  the  Perdido,  and  called  it  WTest  Florida.  In  1800, 
by  the  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso,  Napoleon  received  back  "the 
colony  or  province  of  Louisiana,  with  the  same  extent  that  it 
now  has  in  the  hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  France 
possessed  it."  The  greatest  military  power  in  the  world  thus 
hart's  amer.  hist.  — 16 


266  ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 

became  the  possessor  of  both  banks  of  the  lower  Mississippi 
and  a  near  neighbor  to  the  United  States. 

The  natural  uneasiness  of  the  Americans,  when  in  1802  they 
heard  of  this  change,  was  heightened  when  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernor withdrew  the  privilege  of  sending  goods  through  New 
Orleans  free  of  duty,  which  had  been  secured  by  the  treaty  of 
1795.  Plainly,  he  meant  to  turn  over  the  province  to  France 
with  the  river  blocked  to  American  trade.  Hence  it  was  that 
Jefferson  wrote  to  Robert  R.  Livingston,  our  minister  in  France : 
Contempora-  "  There  is  on  the  globe  one  single  spot,  the  possessor  of 
ries,  III.  363  which  is  our  natural  and  habitual  enemy.  It  is  New 
Orleans.  The  day  that  France  takes  possession  of  New  Orleans 
.  .  .  from  that  moment,  we  must  marry  ourselves  to  the  British 
fleet  and  nation." 

A  party  in  Congress  wanted  to  take  New  Orleans  by  mili- 
tary force;  and  an  act  passed  authorizing  80,000  volunteers. 
220.  Pur-      Jefferson    was    cooler.      He    instructed    Livingston    to 
Louisiana      attempt  the  purchase  of  the  Island  of  Orleans  and  the 
(1803)  strip  to  the  eastward  between  the  southern  boundary  of 

the  United  States  and  the  Gulf.  In  January,  1803,  he  desig- 
nated his  friend  James  Monroe  as  a  special  envoy  to  France  to 
aid  Livingston.  Fortunately  for  America,  Napoleon  was  already 
tired  of  his  own  plan,  for  war  with  Great  Britain  was  about 
to  break  out  again,  and  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to 
protect  the  sea  route  to  Louisiana.  Meanwhile  he  failed  to 
reconquer  the  necessary  halfway  station  of  Haiti,  where  Tous- 
saint  L'Ouverture,  a  negro  general,  aided  by  fever,  had  the 
impertinence  to  destroy  10,000  of  his  best  troops.  Therefore, 
while  Livingston  was  trying  to  buy  West  Florida  and  New 
Orleans,  suddenly  the  French  foreign  office  asked  him  what  he 
would  give  for  the  whole  of  Louisiana. 

One  day  later  Monroe  arrived,  and  the  two  ministers  did 
not  hesitate  to  go  beyond  their  instructions  by  accepting  the 
offer,  but  for  some  weeks  haggled  over  the  price.     The  treaty 


EXPANSION   OF   THE   REPUBLIC   (1801-1809) 


267 


was  completed  April  30,  1803 ;  the  United  States  was  to  pay 
$11,250,000  in  cash  and  $3,750,000  to  American  claimants 
against  the  French  government,  a  total  of  $15,000,000;  in 
return  Napoleon  ceded  the  Island  of  Orleans  and  the  whole 
western  half  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  with  an  area  of 
900,000  square  miles  (§  223).  Livingston,  Monroe,  and  Jeffer- 
son each  thought  that  he  was  responsible  for  this  splendid  addi- 
tion to  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  Louisiana  came  like 
a  plum  dropping  from  the  tree ;  but  Jefferson  is  fairly  entitled 
to  the  credit  of  seeing  more  clearly  than  any  other  man  of 
his  time  the  danger  of  having  France  as  a  neighbor,  and  the 
possibilities  of  the  West. 

Since  there  was  nothing  in  the  Constitution  on  the  question 
of    annexing   territory,   Jefferson   asked  for   a  constitutional 
amendment ;  but  his  friends  found  authority  in  the  old    221.  Incor- 
Federalist  doctrine  of  implied  powers,  and  the  treaty  was    Louisiana 
promptly  ratified.     Notwithstanding  factious  protests  by  (1803-1812) 
some  of  the  New  England  Federalists,  the  next  step  was  to 
take  possession  of  the  new  country ;  New  Orleans  was  turned 

over  by  the  Spanish 
commander  to  a  French 
officer  (November  30? 
1803),  and  twenty  days 
thereafter  by  the 
Frenchman  to  the 
United  States ;  though 
the  distant  Spanish 
post  of  St.  Louis  was 
not  transferred  till 
March,  1804. 

The  population  of 
the  new  acquisition  was 
about  40,000,  almost  entirely  settled  along  the  water  front  of 
the  Mississippi  and  Eed  rivers.     Congress  speedily  passed  an 


Copyright ,  1900,  by  Detroit  Photographic  Co, 

Cabildo,  New  Orleans,  built  in  1794. 
The  Spanish  government  huilding. 


268 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


act  organizing  the  lower  part  of  Louisiana  as  the  Territory  of 
Orleans,  with  an  appointed  legislature.  The  people  of  New 
Orleans  were  in  an  uproar.  They  did  not  like  the  new  laws, 
the  new  language,  or  the  new  governor,  and  Congress  good- 
naturedly  gave  them  a  territorial  government  with  an  elective 
legislature  (March,  1805).  Seven  years  later  an  act  was  passed 
for  the  admission  of  this  small  part  of  the  old  province  of 
Louisiana  as  "  Louisiana,"  an  equal  state  in  the  Union. 


Explorations  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  Pike. 


Jefferson's  far  sight  early  penetrated  into  the  northwestern 
Pacific  coast,  where  in  1792  Captain  Gray,  in  the  ship  Colum- 
222.  Keach-   bia  of  Boston,  had  found   the  mouth  of  a  great   river, 
mgout  or     and  named  it  for  his  ship.     As  soon  as  Jefferson  became 
(1792-1811)  President,  he  induced  Congress  to  provide  for  an  overland 
expedition  to  the  Oregon  country,  under  the  command  of  Wil- 
liam Clark  and  Meriwether  Lewis,  Jefferson's  private  secretary. 
The  whole  Missouri  valley  had  become  part  of   the  United 
States  by  the  annexation  of  Louisiana  when  this  expedition 
left  St.  Louis  with   forty-five  men  (May  14,  1804).     In  the 
course  of  six  months  they  ascended  the  Missouri  1600  miles; 
they  camped  all  winter,  and  in  the  spring  of   1805  started 


EXPANSION   OF   THE   REPUBLIC    (1801-1809)  269 

northwest,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Indian  "Bird  Woman," 
who  carried  her  child  on  her  back.  In  August,  1805,  they 
reached  a  point  on  the  Missouri  River  where  a  man  could 
bestride  it;  and  then  they  struck  across  the  mountains  on 
horseback  and  found  a  westward-flowing  river;  following 
down,  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  (Novem- 
ber 15,  1805),  4000  miles  from  St.  Louis. 

This  expedition  through  a  country  absolutely  unknown  to 
white  men  opened  up  half  a  continent ;  and  it  was  the  second 
link  (next  to  Gray's  discovery)  in  the  chain  which  bound 
Oregon  to  the  United  States.  Eventually  it  gave  the  United 
States  a  Pacific  sea  front,  and  opened  a  broad  window  toward 
the  Pacific  islands  and  Asia.  In  1811  John  Jacob  Astor  forged 
the  third,  link  of  our  possession,  by  establishing  a  fur-trading 
post  at  Astoria,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Columbia. 

Meanwhile,  in  1806,  Lieutenant  Zebulon  Pike,  with  a  com- 
mand of  United  States  troops,  reached  the  northern  boundary 
of  Louisiana  in  an  exploration  up  the  Mississippi  River  to  find 
its  source.  He  then  made  his  way  overland,  discovered  Pikes 
Peak,  and  came  out  beyond  our  boundaries  in  New  Mexico. 

The  annexation  of  Louisiana  soon  led  to  serious  boundary 

controversies  with  Spain.     The  treaty  of  1803  contained  no 

description  of  Louisiana  except  the  phrase  of  the  treaty     223.  West 

v  Florida 

of  San  Ildefonso :  "  with  the  same  extent  that  it  now  has        question 

in  the  hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  France  pos-  (1803-1813) 
sessed  it " ;  but  "  in  the  hands  of  Spain "  Louisiana  did  not 
include  West  Florida ;  while  "  as  France  possessed  it "  Louisi- 
ana extended  to  the  Perdido.  The  Spanish  government  in- 
sisted that  their  cession  of  Louisiana  in  1800  was  not  intended 
to  include  West  Florida,  and  Talleyrand  supported  that  conten- 
tion. Yet  Livingston,  who  had  started  out  to  purchase  West 
Florida,  could  not  give  up  the  idea  that  he  had  secured  it  as 
part  of  Louisiana,  and  Jefferson  soon  took  up  that  belief. 
Spain  was  in  possession  of  the  disputed  strip,  and  refused  to 


270  ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 

give  it  up.  In  1810  the  United  States  annexed  part  of  the 
region,  and  in  1811  Congress  passed  a  secret  act  authorizing 
the  President  to  take  East  Florida  also,  but  it  was  not  till 
1814  that  the  whole  even  of  West  Florida  was  occupied.  In 
the  latest  official  map  of  the  United  States,  West  Florida  does 
not  appear  as  part  of  Louisiana. 

Our  relations  with   Spain  in  1806  were  further  disturbed 
by  difficulties   along  the   southwest   boundary   of   Louisiana. 
224.  Burr      Aaron  Burr's  willingness   to  accept   the   presidency  in 
UonrreC"       1801  was  never  forgiven  by  Jefferson,  and  in  the  presiden- 
(1804-1807)   tial  election  of  1804  George  Clinton  of  New  York  was 
put  in  his  place  for  Vice  President.     Jefferson  and  Clinton 
swept  the  country ;  the  Federalist  candidates  got  only  14  elec- 
toral votes.     Meanwhile  Burr  was   defeated   as   independent 
candidate  for  governor  of  New  York,  and  laid  this  defeat  to 
Alexander  Hamilton,  who  had  warned  his  friends  that  Burr 
was  dangerous   and  untrustworthy.     Burr  therefore  forced  a 
duel  on  Hamilton  and  killed  him  (July  11,  1804). 

When  his  term  as  Vice  President  expired  in  1805,  Burr  was 
a  desperate  man.  Being  indicted  for  the  murder  of  Hamilton, 
he  thought  it  prudent  to  go  west  for  a  time,  and  returned 
with  vague  schemes  for  settling  or  conquering  a  region  in  the 
Southwest  on,  or  more  probably  beyond,  the  Spanish  boundary. 
In  1806  he  raised  a  few  score  men,  who  in  his  absence  were 
drawn  up  in  a  kind  of  warlike  array  on  Blennerhasset  Island, 
in  the  Ohio  River.  He  joined  this  force  and  floated  down  the 
river  (December,  1806),  and  turned  into  the  Mississippi.  His 
friend,  and,  as  he  hoped,  his  partner,  James  Wilkinson,  general 
of  the  United  States  army,  played  him  false.  Hastily  making 
an  agreement  that  the  Sabine  River  should  be  the  temporary 
boundary  of  Louisiana,  Wilkinson  hurried  to  New  Orleans, 
arrested  some  of  Burr's  followers,  and  forwarded  to  Jefferson 
a  letter  in  which  Burr  proposed  to  seize  New  Orleans,  where 
"  there  would  be  some  confiscation."     Jefferson  had  been  wait- 


EXPANSION   OF   THE   REPUBLIC    (1801-1809)  271 

ing  to  see  how  far  Burr  would  go ;  he  now  issued  a  proclama- 
tion against  him,  and  had  him  arrested  and  sent  east  to  stand 
trial  for  treason.  Chief-Justice  Marshall  ruled  that  there  was 
no  evidence  of  treason,  and,  to  the  wrath  of  the  President, 
Burr  went  free ;  but  he  never  had  the  public  confidence  again. 
After  a  renewal  of  the  European  war  in  1803,  interference 
with  neutral  trade  began  again.     The  British  justified  harsh 

measures  on  the  ground  that  the  Americans  indulged       225.  Im- 

pressments 
in  three  forms  of   sharp  practice:     (1)  Deserters  from         and  cap- 
British  ships  of  war  were  welcomed  to  employment  on  a803_JJ5^ 
Yankee   merchantmen.     (2)  American  ships   frequently 
carried  two  or  three  different  sets  of  ship's  papers,  to  make 
themselves  out  something  different  from  what  they  were,  so 
as  to  avoid  capture.     (3)  The  Americans  carried  on,  through 
American  ports,  trade  from  French  colonial  ports  to  France. 

To  meet  these  real  or  fancied  difficulties,  the  British  began 
to  capture  or  search  American  vessels,  often  for  reasons  not 
urged  earlier :  (1)  By  the  new  doctrine  of  "  continuous  voy- 
ages," their  courts  held  that  the  profitable  trade  in  West  India 
sugar  brought  to  the  United  States,  unloaded,  and  then  re- 
shipped  to  Spain  or  France,  was  subject  to  capture.  (2)  Ves- 
sels which  had  carried  a  doubtful  cargo  out,  were  captured  on 
their  way  home  with  innocent  cargoes.  In  order  to  enforce 
these  new  principles,  British  men-of-war  cruised  up  and  down 
the  American  coast,  and  captured  American  vessels  outside  the 
ports  to  which  they  belonged.  Impressments  began  again  on 
a  large  scale,  for  the  hard,  underpaid,  and  often  cruel  naval 
service  of  Great  Britain  caused  hundreds  of  sailors  to  desert. 

Against  all  these  outrages  the  United    States   government 
remonstrated;    but  Jefferson  wanted  to  keep  the  peace,  and 
instead  of  building  war  ships  he  induced  Congress   to    226.  Inter- 
spend  $1,600,000  in  building  and  maintaining,  for  coast         n   crisis 
defense,  a  flotilla  of  small  gunboats.     In  1804  our  rela-   (1806-1807) 
tions  with  Great  Britain  became  worse :  the  commercial  clauses 


272  ORGANIZATION   AND    EXPANSION 

of  the  Jay  treaty  of  1794  by  agreement  were  allowed  to  expire, 
and  Great  Britain  would  not  grant  as  good  terms  again;  there- 
fore, we  had  no  commercial  treaty  at  all.  To  compel  Great 
Britain  to  come  to  terms,  Congress  enacted  a  nonimportation 
act, — practically  the  old  Association  of  1774  over  again, — 
which  never  took  effect. 

By  combining  the  fleets  of  France  and  Spain,  Napoleon  still 
hoped  to  check  the  British  sea  power ;  but  in  1805  the  splendid 
genius  of  Admiral  Nelson  at  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  destroyed 
the  allied  fleet,  and  left  Great  Britain  supreme  at  sea.  The  re- 
sourceful emperor  of  the  French  then  set  up  what  was  called 
the  "  Continental  System,"  by  which  all  the  numerous  allies 
of  France  agreed  not  to  purchase  any  British  goods.  Great 
Britain  retaliated  in  1806  and  1807  with  Orders  in  Council, 
setting  up  "paper  blockades"  on  the  French  coast.  Napoleon 
replied  by  the  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees  (November,  1806, 
December,  1807),  forbidding  all  trade  to  the  British  islands 
or  in  British  goods.  The  real  sufferers  from  this  furious  war 
of  documents  were  the  American  shipowners,  yet  they  were 
the  people  who  least  wanted  war.  Although,  between  1803 
and  1811,  the  British  took  917  American  vessels,  and  the 
French  took  558,  the  profits  of  the  neutral  trade  were  so  great 
that  the  American  tonnage  engaged  in  foreign  trade  almost 
doubled. 

The  difficulty  reached  its  crisis  in  June,  1807,  when  the 
United  States  ship  Chesapeake  was  stopped  on  the  high  seas 
off  Cape  Henry  by  the  British  frigate  Leopard,  so  that  some 
deserters  from  the  British  navy  who  had  enlisted  on  board  the 
American  ship  might  be  taken  off.  The  Chesapeake,  though  in 
international  usage  a  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States, 
was  fired  upon  and  disabled,  and  two  or  three  American-born 
sailors  were  then  seized,  besides  one  English  deserter. 

The  accumulation  of  injuries  called  for  action  of  some  kind. 
Negotiation  had  failed :  Great  Britain  would  neither  make  a 


EXPANSION   OF  THE   REPUBLIC    (1801-1809)  273 

treaty  nor  give  any  satisfaction  for  the  Leopard  outrage.     The 
United  States  might  fight,  but  war  would  cut  off  American 
trade  almost  altogether.    To  yield  and  say  nothing  meant       227.  The 
to  give  up  abjectly  the  rights  of  an  independent  nation.        embargo 
Jefferson's  ingenious  mind  found  a  way  out  of  this  ap- 
parently impassable  bog,  by  the  Embargo  Act  (December  22, 
1807),  prohibiting  the  sailing  of  ships  from  the  United  States 
to  foreign  ports.      Jefferson  was  sure  that  both   France  and 
Great  Britain  would  have  to  come  to  terms  if  the  American 
food  products  and  other  exports  were  cut  off.    On  the  contrary, 
Napoleon  simply  confiscated  American  vessels  in  French  ports, 
because,  he  argued,  they   must  have  violated  the  American 
embargo;  and  the  British,  though  they  felt  the  loss  of  Ameri- 
can exports,  held  out  stubbornly. 

The  people  who  suffered  most  and  who  made  the  most  ado 
were  the  Americans.  The  New  England,  middle,  and  southern 
states  were  all  heavy  exporters,  and  as  the  year  1808  wore  on, 
thousands  of  people  found  their  livelihood  taken  away.  Ships 
moldered  at  the  wharves,  wheat  rotted  in  the  warehouses; 
the  peace-loving  Jefferson  found  his  temper  rising,  as  the  peo- 
ple, especially  the  New  Englanders,  slipped  out  of  port  or  de- 
fiantly carried  their  goods  over  the  Canadian  boundary.  At  the 
end  of  fourteen  months,  the  country,  especially  New  England, 
would  bear  no  more;  and  against  Jefferson's  private  remon- 
strance, Congress  repealed  the  Embargo  Act  (March  1,  1809). 

During  this  storm  and  stress  of  international  affairs,  Con- 
gress was  from  time  to  time  taking  action  on  slavery.     In 
1793    Congress    passed    an    act    by    which   the    federal     228.  Slav- 
government  took  the  responsibility  for  the  pursuit  and    ^avo  trade 
return  of  fugitive  slaves.     In  the  organization  of   Mis-  (1801-1807) 
sissippi  Territory  in  1798,  and  of  the  Territory  of  Orleans  in 
1804,  slavery  was  allowed  to  remain  in  those  regions.     North 
of  the  Ohio  a  controversy  arose,  from  1802  to  1816,  because 
many  of  the  people  in  the  new  Territory  of  Indiana,  who  came 


274 


ORGANIZATION    AND   EXPANSION 


from  Kentucky  and  other  southern  states,  petitioned  over  and 
over  again  to  be  allowed  to  hold  slaves ;  but  Congress  refused. 

On  another  slavery  question  the  South  was  itself  divided. 
Maryland  and  Virginia  did  not  import  slaves,  but  had  surplus 
slaves  to  sell  to  their  southern  neighbors.  They  joined  with 
the  northern  states  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  to  prohibit 
the  foreign  slave  trade  absolutely.  By  act  of  Congress  (1807) 
it  was  made  a  crime  to  import  any  slaves  after  January  1, 
1808,  into  any  port  of  the  United  States.  The  act  was  openly 
violated:  even  had  it  been  enforced,  the  natural  increase  of 
the  slaves  was  raising  their  numbers  to  the  millions. 

Another  very  important  event  of  the  year  1807  was  the  first 

successful  voyage   by  steam  power.     Eobert   Fulton  in  New 

229.  Begin-   York  set  himself  to  the  problem,  raised  with  difficulty 

ning  of  the  few  thousand  dollars  necessary  for  a  trial,  ordered  an 

steam 

transporta-    engine  from  England,  and  (August,  1807)  set  in  motion, 

tion  (1807)     on   the    Hudson    Eiver,   the    clumsy -looking    Clermont, 
which  could  steam  against  wind  and  tide,  and  on  her  trial 


The  CLERMONT.     (From  a  model  in  the  National  Museum,  Washington.) 


trip  reached  Albany  in  less  than  a  day  and  a  half.  The 
use  of  steamers  spread  rapidly.  A  regular  line  to  Albany  was 
established  in  1808 ;  within  five  years  a  line  was  running 
on  the  Delaware,  a  steamboat  was  built  at  Pittsburg,  and  steam 


EXPANSION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  (1801-1809)     275 

ferryboats  were  introduced   in  New  York  and  Philadelphia; 
and  in  1816  steamers  were  introduced  on  Lon<j  Island  Sound. 


Jefferson  came  into  office  in  1801,  amidst   excitement  and 
the  hatred  of  the  Federalists,  and  showed  himself  a  moderate 
and  prudent  statesman,  though  he  could  not  quite  deny      230.  Sum- 
himself  the  removal  of   some  of  the  Federalist  office-  mary 

holders.  Everything  he  touched  seemed  to  prosper;  revenues 
increased,  expense  and  debt  decreased,  the  Barbary  pirates 
were  handsomely  punished,  Louisiana  was  annexed  to  the 
United  States,  and  Jefferson  prepared  the  way  for  a  Pacific 
frontage  in  Oregon.  He  controlled  his  friends  and  crushed 
his  most  persistent  enemy,  Burr. 

Jefferson's  second  administration  (1805-1809)  was  full  of 
humiliations  and  disappointments,  brought  about  in  great  part 
by  the  fierceness  of  the  war  between  France  and  Great  Britain. 
Each  power  looked  on  American  neutral  trade  simply  as 
something  that  helped  the  other  side.  Hence  the  embargo 
was  a  failure  from  the  first;  for  it  did  just  what  the  Orders 
and  Decrees  were  trying  to  do,  by  cutting  off  American  trade ; 
while  the  capture  of  American  vessels  affected  thousands  of 
people  at  home,  and  the  impressment  of  American  seamen 
caused  intense  bitterness.  The  trouble  was  that  Jefferson  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  United  States  together  could  not  bring  to 
reason  two  such  powerful  and  infuriated  enemies  as  Great 
Britain  and  France,  or  prevent  such  burning  indignities  as  the 
capture  of  the  Chesapeake. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Why   did  Jefferson    object    to  the    "midnight   judges"?    Suggestive 

(2)  How  was  the    national  debt  reduced  from    1801    to   1811?   topics 

(3)  Why  did  Jefferson  remove  officials  ?  (4)  What  naval  officers  of 
later  fame  saw  service  in  the  Barbary  wars  ?  (5)  What  did  the  name 
11  Louisiana  "  mean  in  1803  ?  (6)  Did  Jefferson  have  constitutional 
authority  to  negotiate   a  treaty  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  ? 


276 


ORGANIZATION  AND    EXPANSION 


Search 
topics 


(7)  Why  did  the  Federalists  object  to  the  annexation  of  Louisiana  ? 

(8)  Why  did  Jefferson  wish  to  send  an  expedition   to  Oregon  ? 

(9)  Was  Aaron  Burr  a  traitor?  (10)  Why  did  the  people  of 
Indiana  Territory  want  slaves?  (11)  Why  did  France  and  Great 
Britain  refuse  to  repeal  their  Decrees  and  Orders  ?  (12)  Why  did 
Hamilton  accept  Burr's  challenge  ? 

(13)  Jefferson's  home  at  Monticello.  (14)  "  Republican  sim- 
plicity" at  the  White  House  under  Jefferson.  (15)  The  Bishop- 
Goodrich  case  of  removal  from  office.  (10)  Toussaint  L'Ouverture's 
relations  with  Napoleon.  (17)  Adventures  of  Lewis  and  Clark. 
(18)  Discovery  of  Pikes  Peak.  (19)  Duel  between  Burr  and 
Hamilton.  (20)  Fulton's  first  voyage  by  steamer.  (21)  The 
British  cruisers  on  the  American  coast,  1804-1811.  (22)  Battle  of 
Trafalgar.  (28)  Berlin  Decree.  (24)  Complaints  of  the  embargo. 
(25)  Character  of  Jefferson. 


Geography 

Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  264,  268 ;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  93-113. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  94-105 ;  Walker,  Making  of 
the  Nation,  168-213;  Channing,  Jeffersonian  System;  Stanwood, 
Presidency,  74-96  ;  Schouler,  United  States,  II.  1-229  ;  McMaster, 
United  States,  II.  583-635,  III.  1-88,  142-338,  516-528,  V.  373-380, 
418-432  ;  Adams,  United  States,  I.  185-446,  II.-IV.;  Wilson,  Amer- 
ican People,  III.  153-204;  Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§  54-58; 
Locke,  Antislavery,  131-165;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  IV. 
258-343;  Hosmer,  Louisiana  Purchase,  21-178;  Sparks,  Expan- 
sion, 188-215  ;  Cable,  Creoles  of  Louisiana,  1-160  ;  Foster,  Cen- 
tury of  Diplomacy,  185-232  ;  Morse,  Thomas  Jefferson,  186-307  ; 
Merwin,  Thomas  Jefferson,  119-164, — Aaron  Burr,  57-147; 
Stevens,  Albert  Gallatin,  170-300;  Adams,  John  Bandolph,  1-233; 
Brady,  Stephen  Decatur,  1-61 ;  Thurston,  Bobert  Fulton  ;  Lighton, 
Lewis  and  Clark. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  78-81,—  Contemporaries,  III.  §§106- 
122,  —  Source  Beaders,  III.  §  73  ;  Ames,  State  Documents  on 
Federal  Belations,  no.  1,  pp.  26-44  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  44, 
104,  105,  128,  131;  MacDonald,  Select  Documents,  nos.  24-27; 
Caldwell,  Territorial  Development,  77-108.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist. 
Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  338-340,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  81. 

Scenes  at  Washington;  G.  W.  Cable,  The  Grandissimes, — 
Strange  True  Stories  of  Louisiana  ;  E.  E.  Hale,  Man  without  a 
Country,  —  Philip  Nolan's  Friends  ;  E.  L.  Bynner,  Zachary  Phips 
(Burr)  ;  M.  E.  Seawell,  Decatur  and  Somers. 

Wilson,  American  People,  III.;  Sparks,  Expansion. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 


WAR   WITH   GREAT  BRITAIN  (1809-1815) 

Jefferson  was  glad  to  follow  Washington's  example  in 
retiring  from  the  presidency  at  the  end  of  his  second  term, 
and  practically  transferred  the  office  to  his  Secretary  of    231.  Madi- 

State,  James  Madi-  %*J£a 
son,  who  was  (1809-1811) 
elected  President  in  1808 
over  the  Federalist  C.  C. 
Pinckney  by  122  electo- 
ral votes  to  47.  Madison 
had  lost  his  earlier  ag- 
gressiveness and  spirit, 
was  not  a  good  party 
leader,  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Gallatin  as- 
sembled a  weak  Cabinet. 
The  efforts  of  Presi- 
dent Madison  to  adjust 
the  troubles  with  Great 
Britain  by  negotiation 
failed ;  a  fair  treaty  was 
signed  by  the  British 
minister  Erskine  in  1809, 
but  Great  Britain  re- 
fused to  ratify  his  work.  His  successor,  James  Jackson,  ac- 
cused the  President  and  Secretary  of  State  of  lying,  and  noted 
in  his  private  correspondence  that  "  a  more  despicable  ff  Source 
set  I  never  met  with  before,"  which  was  his  way  of  com-       Book,  213 

277 


Dolly  Madison,  about  1810. 

Mrs.  James  Madison,  a  famous  social 
leader.    From  the  portrait  by  Stuart. 


278 


ORGANIZATION  AND  EXPANSION 


plaining  because  the  United  States  government  absolutely- 
refused  to  have  any  more  dealings  with  him;  but  he  was 
received  and  welcomed  by  New  England  Federalists. 

Congress  had  no  better  success.  In  1809  (March  1)  it  had 
passed  a  law  prohibiting  commerce  with  France  and  Great 
Britain,  but  the  commerce  went 
on  indirectly.  In  1810,  by  the 
"  Macon  Bill  No.  2,"  Congress 
attempted  to  play  off  one  enemy 
against  another,  and  produced 
no  real  effect  on  either.  Napo- 
leon in  August,  1810,  publicly 
announced,  "  His  Majesty  loves 
the  Americans ;  their  pros- 
perity and  their  commerce  are 
within  the  scope  of  his  pol- 
icy " ;  on  the  same  day  he 
showed  his  affection  by  a  secret 
decree  ordering  the  confiscation 
of  all  American  ships  in  his 
ports. 

To  the  troubles  on  the   sea- 
board were  added   dangers  on 
232.  Indian  the  western  frontier,  where 
two    Indian   leaders  had 

arisen  —  the  twin  brothers  Tecumthe  and  the  Prophet. 
Tecumthe  was  perhaps  the  greatest  Indian  in  American  his- 
tory, because  the  only  one  who  grasped  the  idea  of  throwing 
the  whites  back  by  forming  a  confederation  of  all  the  frontier 
tribes  from  north  to  south.  Though  he  could  not  raise  the 
southern  tribes  in  1810,  he  had  under  his  control  5000  war- 
riors, a  force  which,  if  it  would  only  act  together,  could  defeat 
any  army  that  the  United  States  was  able  on  short  notice  to 
bring  into  the  field. 


wars 
(1811-1814) 


A  Modern  Indian. 


WAR   WITH   GREAT  BRITAIN    (1809-1815)  279 

In  1811,  while  Tecumthe  was  absent,  William  Henry  Harri- 
son, governor  of  Indiana  Territory,  forced  the  fight  by  march- 
ing against  the  Indian  town  of  Tippecanoe,  on  the  Wabash 
River,  with  1000  men.  The  Indians  boldly  came  out  to  attack 
him,  and  inflicted  a  loss  of  about  200,  but  were  seized  with 
panic  and  abandoned  the  town,  which  Harrison  then  entered 
and  burned.  Both  sides  considered  it  a  victory  for  the  whites. 
A  few  months  later  war  broke  out  on  the  southern  frontier, 
where  Fort  Minims,  near  the  Alabama  River,  was  captured  by 
the  Creeks  and  about  500  people  were  killed.  General  Andrew 
Jackson  was  put  in  command  of  the  troops,  and  in  several  cam- 
paigns during  1813  and  1814  nearly  crushed  out  the  opposing 
Indians. 

Meanwhile   the   public   feeling   of   wrath   and    indignation 

steadily  rose  toward  France,  and  still  more  toward  England. 

In  the   new  Congress,   which   met   in   December,   1811,       g33   Q 

Henry  Clay  of  Kentucky  was   chosen   Speaker  of   the         break  of 

House ;  he  organized  it  with  a  view  to  war,  and  made       WaiG7eat 

Vomi£  John  C.  Calhoun  of   South  Carolina  chairman  of  Britain 

(1811-1812) 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs.     The  West  had  no 

patience  with  the  timidity  of  the  shipowners,  for  to  the  fron- 
tiersmen nothing  seemed  easier  than  to  conquer  Canada,  and, 
as  Clay  said,  "  negotiate  the  terms  of  a  peace  at  Quebec  contempora- 
or  Halifax."  The  country  was  then  prosperous ;  manu-  nes» IIL  420 
factures  were  springing  up,  and  nearly  $200,000,000  worth  of 
goods  were  made  in  the  country  in  a  single  year.  But  Con- 
gress did  not  consider  that  the  national  revenues  were  falling 
off;  that  the  army  numbered  only  7000  men;  and  that  there 
were  no  good  roads  to  the  Canadian  frontier. 

Even  President  Madison  could  not  stand  the  pressure  for 
war,  and  war  was  formally  declared  against  Great  Britain 
June  18,  1812,  though  it  was  pointed  out  in  Congress  that 
we  ought  to  fight  France  also.  The  official  reasons  for  the  war 
were  as  follows :  (1)  the  insolence  of  the  British  cruisers  on 


280 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


the  coast ;  (2)  the  capture  of  over  900  American  vessels  since 
1803  ;  (3)  blockades  and  other  unrighteous  practices  under  the 
British  Orders  in  Council ;  (4)  the  stirring  up  of  Indian  hos- 
tilities ;  (5)  impressment.  An  apology  had  been  made  for  the 
Chesapeake  affair;  at  the  last  moment  the  British  partly 
withdrew  the  offensive  Orders ;  and  we  now  know  that  it  was 
an  error  to  suppose  that  the  British  instigated  the  Indian  wars. 
Nevertheless,  two  substantial  grievances  remained:  the  cap- 
ture of  our  merchantmen ;  and  the  impressment  of  about  4000 
seamen,  of  whom  many  were  still  prisoners  on  British  cruisers. 

It  was  supposed  that  a  single  campaign  would  probably 
decide  the  war,  and  as  soon  as  possible  troops  were  sent 
forward  under  General  Hull  to  seize  Canada.  But  the  tables 
were  unexpectedly  turned  when  the  British  captured  Detroit 
(August,  1812);  and  two  attempts  of  the  Americans  to  cross 
at  the  Niagara  River  were  total  failures,  because  the  men 
had  neither  discipline 
nor  confidence  in  their 
officers. 

Joy  came  from  an  un- 
expected quarter  when 

nnA   „.  the  news  of  naval 
234.  Vic- 
tories at  victories  began  to 
sea  (1812)  pQur  in>     At  the 

outbreak    of    the    war 

the  United  States  navy 

consisted    of    eighteen 

vessels,  of   which   the 

largest  was  a  handy  44- 

gun  frigate.    President 

Madison  expected  that  our  little  fleet  would  surely  be  captured ; 

nevertheless,  our  frigate  Constitution  fell  in  with  the  Guerritre, 

a  ship  of  about  her  tonnage,  and  in  thirty  minutes  the  Guerritre 

lay  a  helpless  wreck  (August  19, 1812).    Two  months  later  the 


Copyright,  1897,  by  Martha  H.  Harvey. 

The  Constitution,  or  "  Old  Ironsides." 

From  a  model  in  the  Peabody  Museum,  Salem, 

Mass.,  given  by  Com.  Isaac  Hull  in  1813. 


WAR    WITH   GREAT  BRITAIN    (1809-1815)  281 

little  Wasp  took  the  British  brig  Frolic;  and  the  frigate  United 
States  captured,  and  subsequently  brought  into  port,  the  Brit- 
ish frigate  Macedonian.  Then  the  Constitution  made  another 
splendid  capture,  the  frigate  Java.  During  the  year  the  only 
loss  of  the  Americans  was  the  Wasp,  taken  by  a  British  three- 
decker  battle  ship.  In  all,  thirteen  British  ships  of  war  were 
lost  besides  those  on  the  lakes.  In  vain  did  the  British  attempt 
to  show  that  the  American  ships  in  every  case  had  more  ton- 
nage, or  more  men,  or  more  weight  of  broadside.  The  British 
navy  had  not  been  accustomed  to  calculate  odds  so  closely; 
really  every  capture  was  due  to  the  superior  guns  and  marks- 
manship of  the  Americans. 

The  tide  of  naval  victory  changed  in  1813,  notwithstanding 
several  other  gallant  captures  of  British  cruisers.     The  Ameri- 
can   frigate    Chesapeake    was    taken    by    the    Shannon       23g    — 
(May  30) ;  and  by  the  end  of  1813  most  of  the  American      indecisive 
cruisers  were  driven  into  port  and  there  blockaded.    Then  year  (        ' 
the  President  was  captured;   but  the  frigate  Essex,  Captain 
Porter,  got  into  the  Pacific  and  made  havoc  of  the  English 
whalers,  till  captured  in  Chilean  waters  in  1814. 

The  boundary  lakes,  Ontario  and  Erie,  were  also  scenes  of 
naval  operations  during  the  years  1812  and  1813.  On  Lake 
Ontario  there  was  no  pitched  battle ;  but  after  the  defeat  of 
a  body  of  Kentuckians  at  the  river  Raisin,  near  Detroit  (Jan- 
uary, 1813),  Lieutenant  Oliver  H.  Perry  was  sent  to  Lake  Erie 
to  prepare  the  way  for  a  recapture  of  Detroit.  With  wonder- 
ful energy  he  constructed  a  fleet  of  five  vessels,  trained  his 
crews,  and  on  September  10,  1813,  accepted  from  the  N.. 

enemy  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  off  Put-in-Bay.     He  rer        Register, 
ported  his  victory  in  the  laconic  letter,  "We  have  met 
the  enemy   and   they   are  ours:    two   ships,   two  brigs,   one 
schooner,  and  one  sloop." 

Perry's  victory  cleared  the  way  for  a  successful  campaign  in 
western  Canada.     His  navy  carried  General   Harrison's  com- 
h art's  amjsk.  hist.  — 17 


282 


ORGANIZATION  AND   EXPANSION 


ffy         X        4-Wilkinson 
^  /      6      25     50 


The  War  of  1812. 

mand  across  the  lake  ;  and  Harrison  defeated  the  Canadians  and 
their  Indian  allies  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames  in  Canadian  ter- 
ritory (October  5,  1813),  where  Tecnmthe  was  killed.  Detroit 
soon  after  surrendered  to  Harrison.  Renewed  attempts  to 
invade  eastern  Canada,  under  General  Wilkinson,  were  again 
a  failure;  and  the  year  1813  left  the  war  a  sort  of  drawn 
game  —  each  side  occupying  substantially  the  territory  which 
it  held  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

In  1812  Napoleon  made  his  disastrous  retreat  from  Russia ; 
and  after  two  years  of  steady  fighting  was  overwhelmed  and 
236    The       compelled  to  abdicate.     Large  British  forces  by  land  and 
United  Sea  were  thus  set  free  for  a  series  of  determined  inva- 

tneTefen-      sions  of  the  United  States  in  1814.    (1)  The  British  occu- 
sive  (1814)    pie(i  the  coast  of  Maine  as  far  as  the  Kennebec  River,  and 


WAR   WITH   GREAT  BRITAIN    (1809-1815)  283 

blockaded  most  of  the  American  coast.  (2)  A  small  British  force 
was  sent  to  seize  Astoria,  Oregon.  (3)  In  August  a  British 
force  of  only  5000  troops  landed  about  fifty  miles  from  Wash- 
ington on  Chesapeake  Bay,  marched  up  into  a  country  inhabited 
by  at  least  50,000  able-bodied  men,  beat  off  (at  Bladensburg)  an 
ill-commanded  force  hastily  summoned  to  repel  them,  and  took 
and  burned  the  capital  of  the  United  States  —  as  an  alleged 
retaliation  for  destruction  in  York  (now  Toronto)  by  American 
forces.  (4)  A  similar  attack  on  Baltimore  in  September,  which 
suggested  Key's  patriotic  poem,  Tlie  Star-Spangled  Banner, 
was  beaten  off  by  the  militia.  (5)  A  British  force  attempting 
to  advance  southward  up  Lake  Cham  plain  was  stopped  (Sep- 
tember It,  1814),  partly  by  a  fleet  under  Commander  Mac- 
Donough,  partly  by  the  presence  of  militia  intrenched  at 
Plattsburg,  under  Macomb. 

In  a  last  attempt  to  invade  Canada,  under  General  Jacob 
Brown,  aided  by  Lieutenant  Winfield  Scott,  the  Americans 
crossed  the  Niagara  River  and  fought  two  battles,  at  Chippawa 
and  at  Lundys  Lane  (July  15,  1814) ;  but  though  the  Ameri- 
cans claimed  the  victory,  they  again  retreated  to  their  own 
territory.  The  closing  incident  of  the  war  was  an  attack  on 
the  Gulf  coast  by  General  Pakenham.  General  Andrew  Jack- 
son fortified  himself  at  Chalmette,  just  below  New  Orleans, 
where,  January  8,  1815,  the  British  column  of  5300  troops 
assaulted  his  works,  defended  by  about  4000  troops,  of  whom 
only  a  third  were  actually  engaged.  Again  the  raw  American 
militia,,  properly  commanded  and  intrenched,  beat  off  the  Brit- 
ish army,  inflicting  a  loss  of  2000.  A  few  days  later,  however, 
the  British  took  the  forts  below  Mobile,  and  remained  in  a 
threatening  attitude. 

Though  for  a  time  there  was  not  an  American  commissioned 
ship  of  war  on  the  ocean,  the  naval  war  was  continued       237    The 
with  brilliancy  and  success   by  a  swarm  of    American     privateers 
privateers.     American  shipowners,  whose  vessels  could  no 


284  ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 

longer  with  safety  carry  a  cargo,  turned  them  into  private 
fighting  ships,  which  often  richly  paid  for  themselves  out 
of  their  prizes.  In  three  years  about  1700  American  mer- 
chant ships  were  taken  by  the  British ;  on  the  other  hand, 
2300  British  merchantmen  were  taken  by  privateers,  besides 
200  by  cruisers,  though  750  were  retaken  by  the  British;  and 
the  insurance  on  a  voyage  from  England  to  Ireland  rose  to  14 
per  cent.  Dismay  spread  through  the  maritime  interest  of 
England.  As  the  London  Times  said  of  the  American  ships, 
"  If  they  fight,  they  are  sure  to  conquer ;  if  they  fly,  they 
are  sure  to  escape." 

One  reason  for  the  failure  of  the  Canadian  land  campaigns 

was  the  political  opposition  to  the  war.     In  1811  a  New  Eng- 

238.  Inter-    ^anc^  member  of  Congress,  Josiah  Quincy,  roundly  threat- 

nal  opposi-     enec[  that  New  England  would  secede  if  Louisiana  were 
tion  to  the  _  .  ,  .  , ,      a      , ,         . 

■war  made  a  state,  thus  increasing  the  power  ot  the  boutn.     As 

(1812-1814)  a  protest  against  the  war,  part  of  the  Republicans  under 
De  Witt  Clinton  made  common  cause  with  the  Federalist  oppo- 
sition in  the  election  of  1812,  and  the  coalition  got  89  electoral 
votes  to  128  for  Madison.  This  personal  and  party  opposition 
was  carried  into  official  form.  When  the  President  of  the 
United  States  called  upon  all  the  states  for  a  certain  number 
of  militia,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, and  New  Jersey  refused  to  send  them. 

There  was  some  reason  for  protest  and  indignation.  Con- 
gress neglected  to  provide  either  men  or  money  enough  to  keep 
the  war  going.  No  proper  tax  laws  were  passed  till  1813, 
when  the  hated  Federalist  excise  and  direct  taxes  were  re- 
vived. The  government  borrowed  $98,000,000  during  the 
war,  but  the  bonds  had  to  be  sold  at  a  depreciation  of  from 
5  per  cent  to  30  per  cent ;  large  amounts  of  "  treasury  notes  " 
—  promises  to  pay  in  the  future  —  had  to  be  issued  for  sup- 
plies ;  and  legal  tender  paper  money  was  openly  suggested. 
The  worst  weakness  of  the  war  was  the  dependence  on  militia 


WAR    WITH   GREAT   BRITAIN    (1800-1815)  285 

regiments,  for  Congress  was  never  willing  to  authorize  a  large 
federal  army.  When  volunteering  fell  off,  plans  were  laid  for 
a  draft,  which  happily  was  not  necessary. 

The  critical  time  came  in  1814,  when  New  England  began 
to  feel  the  blockade  and  the  war  taxes.  In  December,  1814,  a 
convention  of  official  delegates  from  several  New  England 
states  met  at  Hartford.  We  know  little  of  the  secret  debates 
of  the  convention,  but  its  official  report  proposed  that  Con- 
gress should  give  up  its  power  to  prohibit  foreign  commerce, 
and  should  leave  the  proceeds  of  federal  taxes  to  the  states  in 
which  they  were  paid.  Such  demands  could  not  be  granted 
without  giving  up  the  federal  Constitution;  and  they  amounted 
to  saying  that  unless  the  war  were  speedily  stopped,  the  New 
England  states  would  withdraw  from  the  Union. 

Peace  was  made  before  the  Hartford  convention  reported, 
and  in  fact  before  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  In  January, 
1814,  the  United  States  sent  commissioners  to  negotiate  239  Favor. 
a  peace.  The  year  was  opportune,  for  the  great  Duke  of  able  peace 
Wellington  gave  his  opinion  against  trying  to  assault 
American  militia  in  their  trenches;  the  British  shipmasters 
were  crying  for  relief  from  the  American  privateers ;  and  the 
European  war  seemed  over.  Hence  the  British  were  inclined 
to  make  favorable  terms,  and  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  Decem- 
ber 24,  1814,  was  a  diplomatic  triumph  for  the  United  States. 
The  only  subject  on  which  satisfaction  could  not  be  had  was 
impressments  —  the  main  cause  of  the  war ;  but  as  soon  as  the 
European  war  was  over,  impressments  dropped  away  of  them- 
selves ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  never  began  again.  On  all 
other  points  the  treaty  was  highly  favorable  to  the  United 
States  :  (1)  although  at  the  end  of  the  war  the  British  were 
in  possession  of  eastern  Maine,  Oregon,  and  the  coast  near 
Mobile,  they  agreed  to  surrender  all  territorial  conquests; 
(2)  the  British  again  promised  not  to  take  away  slaves  or 
other   private   property;    (3)    since   war   puts   an  end   to   all 


286 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


preexisting  treaties,  the  questions  of  the  fisheries  and  of  com- 
mercial relations  were  for  a  short  time  left  at  loose  ends ;  but 
after  a  few  months  they  were  settled  by  separate  treaties. 


From  one  point  of  view  the  War  of  1812  is  a  painful  sub- 
ject.    The  United  States  went  into  it  hastily,  without  prepara- 
240.  Sum-     tion  either  of  men  or  of  money.     The  land  war  against 
mary  Canada  was  badly  bungled ;  troops  did  not  come  forward, 

supplies  could  not  be  hauled,  whole  armies  were  stuck  in  the 
mud  for  weeks  because  of  bad  roads.  The  only  creditable  op- 
erations on  the  northern  frontier  were 
the  battles  of  Lake  Erie,  the  Thames, 
Lundys  Lane,  and  Plattsburg.  The  sea- 
board was  blockaded  and  harassed ;  our 
merchant  marine  almost  exterminated ; 
our  vessels  of  war  sunk,  taken,  or  cooped 
up  in  port;  the  national  capital  cap- 
tured ingloriously  and  burned,  almost 
under  the  nose  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

This  is  less  than  half  the  story.    The 

war  developed  three  good  generals,  — 

William  H.  Harrison,  Jacob  Brown,  and 

Andrew  Jackson,  —  men  who  knew  how 

to  fight,  even  with  untrained  volunteers, 

and  who  showed  that  on  the  defensive 

the    militiamen    were,   man    for    man, 

stronger  than  the  best  British  regulars. 

And  the  laurels  of  the  War  of   1812  were  won  on  the  sea, 

where  in  thirteen  duels  between  ships  of  about  equal  strength 

the  Americans  won  eleven.    The  Englishman  admires  the  man 

who  can  beat  him  at  his  own  game,  and  respect  for  American 

seamanship  and  for  American  pluck  has  been  a  tradition  in 

England  ever  since. 


Soldiers  of  1812. 

From  official  publica- 
tions. 


WAR    WITH   GREAT  BRITAIN    (1809-1815)  287 

Still,  the  capture  of  a  few  British  warships  did  not  weaken 
the  British  navy.  The  two  influences  which  led  Great  Britain 
to  make  a  favorable  peace  were  the  courage  of  the  militia, 
which  made  invasion  a  difficult  task,  and  the  courage  of  the 
privateersmen,  which  devastated  the  British  merchant  marine. 
The  United  States  was  like  a  turtle  which  draws  its  feet  and 
tail  beneath  a  protecting  shell,  yet  reaches  out  its  hooked  jaws 
to  catch  its  adversary  in  the  most  vulnerable  part. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Why  was  Jefferson  glad  to  retire  from  the  presidency  ?  Suggestive 
(2)  Why  did  the  British  government  refuse  to  ratify  Erskine's  toplcs 
treaty  ?  (3)  Why  did  Indian  wars  break  out  in  1811  ?  (4)  Why 
did  Indian  wars  break  out  in  the  Southwest  ?  (5)  How  was  De- 
troit captured  by  the  British  ?  (6)  Why  did  the  Americans  defeat 
the  British  in  ship  duels  ?  (7)  Why  was  Commodore  Perry  suc- 
cessful ?     (8)  Why  were  the  British  able  to  capture  Washington  ? 

(9)  Why  did  all  the  American  attacks  on  the  Niagara  frontier  fail  ? 

(10)  Why  were  the  British  beaten  at  New  Orleans  ?     (11)  Why  was 
Josiah  Quincy  opposed  to  the  admission  of  Louisiana  ? 

(12)  Tecumthe's  career.  (13)  Settlement  of  the  Leopard-  Search 
Chesapeake  difficulty.  (U)  Defeat  of  the  Guerriere.  (15)  Cap-  oplcs 
ture  of  the  Java.  (10)  Capture  ot  the  Macedonian.  (17)  Capture 
of  the  Chesapeake.  (18)  Porter's  cruise  in  the  Pacific.  (19)  Cap- 
ture of  Astoria.  (20)  Story  of  the  origin  of  Key's  Star-Spangled 
Banner.  (21)  Incidents  of  privateering  in  the  War  of  1812. 
(22)  Inner  history  of  the  Hartford  convention.  (23)  Attempts 
to  make  peace  in  1812-1813. 

REFERENCES 

See  map,   p.    282;    Babcock,   Bise  of  American  Nationality,    Geography 
Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  134-149. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§107-117;  Stanwood,  Fresi-  Secondary 
dency,  97-105  ;  Babcock,  Bise  of  American  Nationality  ;  McMaster, 
United  States,  III.  339-458,  528-560,  IV.  1-279;  Adams,  United 
States,  V.-VIII.  IX.  1-103  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  III.  204- 
234  ;  Cambridge  Modem  History,  VII.  331-348  ;  Gordy,  Political 
Parties,  II.  9-333  ;  Mahan,  War  of  1812 ;  Roosevelt,  Naval  War 
of  1812  ;  Maclay,  United  States  Navy,  I.  305-658,  II.  3-22  ;  Hollis, 


authorities 


288 


ORGANIZATION   AND   EXPANSION 


Frigate  Constitution;  Hosmer,  Mississippi  Valley,  146-191 ;  Cable, 
Creoles  of  Louisiana,  161-209  ;  Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§  59- 
64  ;  Gay,  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  I.  67-125 ;  Brown,  Andrew  Jack- 
son, 24-86;  Parton,  General  Jackson,  25-248;  Brady,  Stephen 
Decatur,  62-137  ;  Eggleston  and  Seeley,  Tecumseh  and  the  Shaw- 
nee Prophet. 

Sources  Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  82-87,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  123-129, 

—  Source  Headers,  III.  §§  62-65,  76-81,  85,  89-98 ;  MacDonald, 
Select  Documents,  nos.  28-32  ;  Ames,  State  Documents  on  Fed- 
eral Belations,  no.  2  ;  Caldwell,  Studies,  I.  204-208  ;  Johnston, 
American  Orations,  1. 164-215.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n, 
Syllabus,  340,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  82. 

Matthews,  Poems  of  American  Patriotism,  83-107 ;  Eggleston, 
American  War  Ballads,  113-145 ;  Irving  Bacheller,  D'ri  and  I; 
G.  C.  Eggleston,  Big  Brother,  —  Captain  Sam,  — Signal  Boys; 
Edward  Eggleston,  Boxy  (Tippecanoe)  ;  J.  A.  Altsheler,  Herald 
of  the  West  (Washington  and  New  Orleans)  ;  M.  E.  Scannell, 
Midshipman  Paulding  ;  Kirk  Munroe,  Midshipman  Stuart ;  W.  K. 
Post,  Smith  Brunt ;  Howard  Pyle,  Within  the  Capes. 

Pictures  Wilson,  American  People,  III. 


Illustrative 
works 


CHAPTER   XIX. 
SETTLING  THE   WEST   (1800-1820) 

In   1802   Jefferson   predicted   that   the   Mississippi    valley 
"  will  ere  long   yield  more  than  half  of  our  whole  produce 
and  contain  more  than  half  of   our  inhabitants."     Two  Contempom- 
decades  later  the  West  contained  one  fourth  of  the  in-  ries  IIL363 
habitants  of  the  Union,  and  had  revealed  many  elements      sources  of 
of  its  own  natural  wealth :    (1)  The  soil  was  deep  and        the  West 
fertile ;   the  bottom   lands   of   Kentucky  and   Tennessee,  the 
wooded  areas  of  Ohio,  and  the  prairies  farther  west  all  bore 
surprising   crops.     (2)  Most  of  the  settled  area  abounded  in 
superb  timber  —  the  best  trees  ran  to  150  or  even  200  feet  in 
height  and  30  to  40  feet  in  girth,  furnishing  abundant  building 
material.     (3)   The  country  was  well  watered  and  fitted  for 
grazing,  so  that  about  1820  the  westerners  began  to  drive  herds 
of  cattle  over  the  mountains  to  market.     (4)  The  abundant 
waterways  and  the  ease  of  making  roads  quickly  opened  the 
country  to  settlement.     (5)   Coal  mining  began  in  Pittsburg  in 
1784,  and  the  black  diamonds  cropped  out  in  many  places. 
(6)  Iron  ore  was  abundant,  and  charcoal  iron  furnaces  were 
started,  while  lead  was  discovered  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 

A  stream  of   immigrants   sought  this  promised  land,  with 
an  effect  seen  in  the  census  returns  of   some  of  the  states: 
Tennessee  had  36,000   people   in   1790   and   262,000   in       g42    The 
1810;  Ohio  rose  from  45,000  in  1800  to  581,000  in  1820.       westward 
New    settlements    sprang  up.      Fort   Dearborn,    on    the      movement 
Chicago  River,  first  built  in  1803,  was  destroyed  by  Indians 
in   1812,  was   rebuilt   in   1816,   and   became  the   nucleus   of 


290 


NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 


Settled  Area  in  1830. 


Chicago.  Terre  Haute,  Fort  Wayne,  and  South  Bend  were 
settled  about  1817.  St.  Louis  had  been  founded  by  the  French 
in  1764.    Although  the  eastern  states  were  all  growing  rapidly, 

they  were  able  to 
send  off  swarms 
of  emigrants,  be- 
cause large  fami- 
lies were  common 
throughout  the 
country.  Every 
son  could  make  a 
livelihood,  and  al- 
most every  daugh- 
ter was  wanted  as 
a  farmer's  wife. 
To  accommodate  this  stream  of  land-hungry  people,  the 
United  States,  in  1800,  adopted  a  new  public  land  system  : 
land  was  divided  into  small  parcels  and  sold  at  land  offices 
on  the  frontier  at  a  minimum  price  of  $2  an  acre,  one 
fourth  of  the  purchase  money  down  and  four  years'  time  for 
the  balance.  Many  followed  the  principle  of  the  old  woman 
in  Eggleston's  novel,  who,  when  her  husband  was  buying,  said, 
"  git  plenty  while  you're  a  gittin'." 

To  reach  the  western  lands  several  main  highways  from  east 
co  west  were  marked  out  by  nature.  (1)  A  route  led  from 
243.  Eoads  Albany  through  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk,  and  thence 
to  the  West  vja  Geneva  to  Buffalo.  (2)  In  1812  Rochester  was 
founded,  the  plain  to  the  west  of  it  was  quickly  occupied,  and 
a  new  main  road  was  laid  out  directly  west  to  Lake  Erie. 
(3)  From  Philadelphia  a  good  road  ran  through  Bedford  in 
southern  Pennsylvania  to  Pittsburg,  350  miles.  (4)  From 
Alexandria  (opposite  Washington)  a  road  led  about  300  miles 
to  Pittsburg,  by  Braddock's  old  route  up  the  Potomac  to  Cum- 
berland, and  across  the  Laurel  Mountains  to  the  Monongahela 


SETTLING  THE   WEST   (1800-1820) 


291 


Roads  and  Waterways  to  the  West  in  1825. 


River.  (5)  From  Alexandria  or  Richmond  people  followed  the 
long-traveled  easy  pass  from  the  upper  Roanoke  southwest  to 
the  Holston  River,  and  thence  down  the  Tennessee,  or  north- 
westward through  the  Cumberland  Gap  to  Kentucky.    (6)  From 


292  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Georgia  westward  there  was  easy  travel  to  Mississippi  Terri- 
tory and  New  Orleans. 

Most  of  the  wheel  roads  crossed  many  swamps  and  un- 
bridged  streams,  and  were  without  good  inns.  In  regions 
where  there  was  very  little  stone,  pikes  were  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. As  a  substitute,  companies  built  "  plank  roads  "  of  thick 
boards  laid  side  by  side,  and  charged  toll.  The  greater  part 
of  the  highways  west  of  the  mountains  were  simple  rough 
tracks,  winding  in  and  out  among  stumps  and  trees,  pleasant 
in  dry  weather,  and  a  slough  when  it  rained.  Hence  the 
journey  from  the  eastern  states  to  the  West  was  a  serious 
business.  The  ordinary  vehicle  was  the  Conestoga  wagon  of 
wood,  with  an  arched  canvas  top.  The  emigrants  sold  most 
of  their  furniture  and  other  heavy  movables,  took  food  with 
them,  and  cooked  as  they  went  along.  Breakdowns  were  fre- 
quent in  the  terrible  roads,  and  an  average  of  twenty  miles  a 
day  was  quick  travel. 

When  once  the  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  were  reached, 

movement  became  easier ;  even  on  small  rivers  like  the  upper 

244    River    Wabash  and  the  Muskingum  flatboats  were  used.     The 

and  lake        simplest  craft  in  the  lively  river  traffic  was  the  birch- 

tir3_V6l 

bark  canoe,  which  would  hold  one  or  two  persons,  or  the 
dugout,  often  larger.  More  elaborate  was  the  raft  —  sometimes 
as  much  as  a  hundred  feet  long,  floating  all  day  on  the  current, 
and  tied  up  at  night ;  some  of  the  rafts  carried  houses,  open 
fires,  and  cattle.  More  comfortable  was  the  flatboat,  with  its 
crew  of  unkempt  and  brawny  polemen,  the  terror  of  frontier 
towns;  or  the  flat-bottomed  ark,  sometimes  as  much  as  sixty 
feet  long.  A  step  higher  was  the  keel  boat,  a  more  carefully 
built  and  ambitious  structure,  housed  over  with  a  deck,  and 
provided  with  two  "  broadhorns,"  or  steering  oars. 

On  some  such  craft  the  settler  floated  lazily  down  the  rivers 
and  met  the  dangers  of  the  voyage  —  the  river  pirates,  who 
often  attacked  even  armed  boats ;  and  Indians,  who  poured  in 


SETTLING  THE    WEST   (1800-1820) 


293 


a  volley  from  the  shore.  Much  of  the  immigration  intended 
for  central  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee  took  advantage  of 
the  water  highways  by  following  down  the  Ohio  and  then 
poling  up  a  tributary  to  the  place  of  destination. 

After  1812  steamers  multiplied  on  the  western  rivers.  The 
hulls  could  be  built  anywhere  out  of  timber  on  the  spot ;  the 
fuel  was  wood  from  the  river  banks;  engines  and  boilers  at 
first  had  to  be  brought 
over  the  mountains. 
The  river  life  is  best 
described  in  the  recol- 
lections of  his  boyhood 
which  Mark  Twain  has 
preserved  for  us  in  his 
books  on  the  West.  In 
1820  it  took  thirty-five 
days  to  go  up  from 
New  Orleans  to  Pitts- 
burg by  steam,  and 
about   ten   days   to    go  A  MlssISSIPfI  RlvE*  Steamer. 

down.  The  Great  Lakes  were  not  safe  or  convenient  for  sail 
craft  or  for  rowboats ;  and  were  not  much  used  as  a  highway 
for  emigration  till  steamers  were  introduced.  The  first  Lake 
Erie  steamer  was  the  Walk-in-the-Water,  built  in  1818 ;  in  1832 
a  steamer  reached  Chicago  from  the  East;  after  that  time 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  emigrants  passed  through  the  Lakes. 

Difficulties  in  traveling  westward,  and  the  poverty  of  the 
frontier  communities,  suggested  that  the  federal  government 
build  highways.     The  first  act  on  the  subject  (in  1802)    245.  Inter- 
was  that  for  the  admission  of  Ohio,  which  provided  that   provJmentB 
5  per  cent  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  sold  in  that  (1802-1820) 
state  should  be  applied  to  roads  to  reach  those  lands.     This 
idea  took  definite  form  in  an  act  of  1806  for  the  survey  of 
a  road  from    Cumberland,  Maryland,  to  the  Ohio  Eiver. 


^\      1 

i         j    §jSj-#l 

/ail 

* 

294 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 


jfcjf 

i 

\  7                       -   - 

"'■J^^m_ 

'  "'TwLj    1     '^J 

-J 

'  - 

fc.: 

Construction  of  this  National  Koad,  or  Cumberland  Road, 
began  speedily ;  in  1820  it  was  opened  to  Wheeling,  and  was 
then  continued  westward  to  Columbus,  thence  to  Indianapo- 
lis, and  southwestward  toward  St.  Louis.     As  soon  as  it  was 

opened,  it  became  the 
great  artery  of  western 
travel,  for  it  was  direct, 
had  easy  grades,  and  was 
macadamized.  Congress 
in  the  course  of  thirty 
years  spent  upon  it 
$6,800,000;  but  it  was  at 
last  superseded  by  rail- 
roads, and  about  1850 
Congress  transferred  it 
Bridge  on  the  Cumberland  Road.  to    the    states    in    which 

Built  about  1825,  in  Ohio.  ^  i  jeg 

The  most  obvious  line  of  western  transit  by  water  was  from 

the  Hudson  up  the  Mohawk  and  across  to  Lake  Ontario.     The 

246    Erie      ^rs^  statesman  to  take  up  the  building  of  a  canal  on  this 

Canal  route  was  De  Witt  Clinton  of  New  York,  who  saw  the 

(1817-1830) 

many  advantages  to  the   state  and  city  of  New  York 

from  a  waterway  which  would  make  New  York  Harbor  the 
commercial  mouth  of  the  Great  Lakes,  thus  diverting  traffic 
from  New  Orleans.  The  War  of  1812  gave  impetus  to  this 
idea,  because  it  showed  how  hard  it  was  to  transport  men  and 
supplies  from  the  coast  and  the  interior  to  the  Lakes. 

In  1817,  under  the  energetic  leadership  of  John  C.  Calhoun, 
who  said  that  "  he  was  no  advocate  for  refined  arguments  on 
Contempora-  the  Constitution,"  Congress  passed  the  so-called  Bonus 
ries,  III.  439  Bill,  appropriating  $1,500,000  to  be  distributed  among 
the  states  for  internal  improvements.  It  was  expected  that 
New  York  would  have  a  big  slice  to  spend  on  the  proposed 
Erie  Canal,  but  President  Madison  stepped  in,  and  on  the  last 


SETTLING  THE   WEST   (1800-1820)  295 

day  of  his  term  vetoed  the  bill,  for  the  strict  constitutional 
reason  that  he  could  find  no  clause  of  the  Constitution  which 
distinctly  authorized  such  expenditure. 

The  state  of  New  York  at  once  set  to  work  to  build  its  own 
canal,  and  in  1823  the  Erie  Canal  was  finished  from  the  Hudson 
near  Albany  to  the  Genesee  River ;  in  1825  the  direct  line  was 
completed  to  Black  Rock,  near  Buffalo,  350  miles  from  Albany. 
The  original  canal  cost  $7,000,000;  but  over  $100,000,000 
more  has  been  spent  on  extensions  and  repairs.  Yet  the  whole 
expenditure  was  more  than  repaid  by  tolls. 

The  effects  of  the  Erie  Canal  were  marvelous.  Lands  all 
along  the  line  at  once  trebled  in  value,  and  the  freight  rate 
from  tide  water  to  Lake  Erie  dropped  from  $120  a  ton  to  $19. 
New  York  city  increased  from  124,000  people  in  1820  to 
203,000  in  1830,  and  has  ever  since  remained  the  most  pop- 
ulous city  in  the  Union.  After  1825  a  large  part  of  the  over- 
land emigration  passed  through  the  Erie  Canal.  The  passage 
from  Schenectady  to  Utica  (about  two  hours  by  rail  nowadays) 
was  twenty-two  hours  by  canal  boat ;  the  passengers  were 
crowded,  and  half  stifled  at  night,  and  the  frequent  cry  of 
"  low  bridge  "  disturbed  the  journey  by  day. 

When  the  settler  reached  the  golden  West,  he  found  sub- 
stantially the  old  colonial  life  over  again  —  land  to  clear,  log 
houses  to  build,  towns  to   found,  schools  to   start.     An    247.  Fron- 

"fiPT*   1  i  "f  p 

observer  said   of  the  westerners,    "They  are   in   a  low  „ 

Contempora- 
state  of  civilization,  about  half  Indian  in  their  modes  of  ries,  III.  463 

life."    Abraham  Lincoln,  born  in  Kentucky  in  1809,  lived  as  a 

boy  in  an  Indiana  hovel  called  a  "  half-faced  camp."     Better 

abodes  were  built  of  logs,  with  log  chimneys  and  puncheon 

(split  log)  floors,  and  might  cost  twenty  or  twenty-five  days' 

labor. 

Yet  in  the  midst  of  much  that  was  rough,  men  like  Philander 

Chase,  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Ohio,  struggled  on,  founding  schools, 

building  new  churches,  educating  the  ministers,  and  elevating 


296  NATIONAL    DEVELOPMENT 

the  community.  The  Methodist  or  Baptist  frontier  minister 
had  perhaps  half  a  dozen  little  churches  on  his  hands,  and 
"rode  circuit"  from  hamlet  to  hamlet,  preaching,  baptizing, 
burying,  organizing  churches,  and,  if  necessary,  threatening 
rowdies  who  undertook  to  disturb  the  meeting.  One  of  the 
favorite  occupations  of  the  time  was  to  go  to  camp  meeting, 
which  was  a  combination  of  picnic,  summer  resort,  and  reli- 
gious exercise,  where  people  took  household  furniture,  children, 
dogs,  and  psalm  books.  If  the  ministers  roared  and  the  con- 
verts shrieked,  foamed  at  the  mouth,  and  fell  in  convulsions, 
we  must  remember  that  such  exaggerated  experience  often 
aroused  and  turned  to  better  ways  rough  but  powerful  natures 
that  could  not  be  reached  by  milder  means. 

For  education  in  the  Northwest  early  provision  was  made. 
Each  settlement  soon  had  its  common  school,  and  out  of  land 
reserved  by  the  Northwest  Ordinance,  and  private  contribu- 
tions, arose  in  a  few  years  half  a  dozen  little  colleges.  In  1830 
two  western  magazines  were  started :  Hall's  Illinois  Magazine 
and  Flint's  Western  Monthly  Review. 

Next  to  religion,  politics  was  the  most  interesting  topic  in 
the  West.  Local  parties  very  quickly  were  merged  in  the  gen- 
248  New  era*  national  parties;  elections  were  lively,  and  about 
communi-  1800  was  introduced  the  practice  of  "stump  speaking," 
or  open-air  addresses  to  a  series  of  popular  meetings. 
The  western  states  led  in  a  movement  for  the  suffrage  of  all 
adult  white  men  and  for  elective  judges.  In  politics  and  in 
social  life  the  most  influential  man  in  a  village  was  the  store- 
keeper, who  was  often  also  distiller,  country  banker,  real  estate 
dealer,  and  justice  of  the  peace,  and  hence  called  "  Squire." 

Local  government  in  the  West  was  imported  from  eastern 
communities.  The  northwestern  states  set  up  a  system  of 
school  districts  on  the  New  England  model.  In  Ohio,  where 
the  New  England  element  was  strongest,  the  people  adopted  a 
kind  of  modified  town  meeting.     In  Indiana  and  Illinois,  where 


SETTLING  THE    WEST    (1800-1820) 


297 


there  were  many  southern  people,  and  also  in  the  southwestern 
states,  the  county  of  the  southern  type  became  more  important. 

No  man  more  distinctly  represents    the  West  than  Henry 
Clay.     Born  a  poor  boy  in  Virginia,  he  emigrated  to  Kentucky, 
and  at  twenty-nine  he  sat  as  Senator  from  Kentucky  in   249.  Henry 
Washington   (1806).     From  that  time   to   his  death  in     j^ofthe 
1852  Clay  was  most  of  the  time  in  the  service  of  the  West 

federal  government  as  senator,  representative,  or  Secretary  of 
State.  In  four  terms  he  showed  himself  the  greatest  Speaker 
in  the  history  of  Congress, 
managing  the  House  of 
Representatives  as  a  skill- 
ful coachman  handles  a 
four-horse  team. 

What  made  Clay  so  dis- 
tinctively a  western  man 
was  his  political  optimism. 
He  believed  in  all  good 
things,  in  the  future  of 
his  country,  the  growth 
of  the  West,  the  good 
judgment  of  the  average 
voter.  He  was  the  in- 
ventor and  the  strongest 

advocate  of  what  he  called  Henry  Clay,  about  1848. 

"the   American   System,"  From  a  daguerreotype, 

by  which  he  meant  the  commercial  development  of  the  country 
by  protective  tariffs  and  other  public  aids.  Above  all,  through- 
out his  life  he  worked  steadily  and  wisely  for  the  establishment 
of  better  means  of  transit.  His  personal  qualities  gave,  strength 
to  his  political  views ;  he  was  courteous,  quick,  had  a  natural 
power  of  attracting  friends  to  him,  and  was  ingenious  in  devis- 
ing compromises  when  party  spirit  ran  high. 

For  some  time  after  the  Slave  Trade  Act  of  1807,  slavery 
hart's  amek.  hist.  — 18 


298  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

seemed  hardly  to  be  a  sectional  question ;  antislavery  societies 

250.  Slav-  were  active  in  the  border  slave  states  and  in  the  neighbor- 
tions1168"  in&  middle  states.  About  once  every  two  years  met "  The 
(1808-1819)    American  Convention   for    promoting   the   Abolition   of 

Slavery  and  improving  the  Condition  of  the  African  Race." 
This  convention  and  the  local  societies  discussed  political  ques- 
tions affecting  slavery,  petitioned  the  state  legislatures  and 
Congress,  and  tried  to  stir  people  up  to  form  abolition  socie- 
ties. One  western  man,  Benjamin  Lundy  of  Kentucky,  was 
a  kind  of  antislavery  apostle,  and  in  1821  established  an  aboli- 
tion paper,  the  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation. 

These  efforts  were  rather  checked  than  aided  by  the  National 
Colonization  Society  (founded  in  1816),  which  aimed  (1)  to 
encourage  emancipation  by  carrying  the  free  negroes  to  Africa ; 
and  (2)  to  relieve  slaveholders  by  taking  away  the  free  negroes 
who  made  their  slave  brethren  discontented.  In  1819  Congress 
appropriated  $100,000  to  carry  back  slaves  that  might  be  cap- 
tured on  the  high  seas ;  a  negro  colony  was  founded  in  Liberia, 
on  the  west  coast  of  Africa  (1821),  and  first  and  last  several 
thousand  negroes  were  sent  out. 

Gradually  the  West  came  into  the  slavery  discussion,  at  first 
because  used  as  a  kind  of  balance  between  North  and  South. 
From  the  admission  of  Louisiana  (1812)  the  number  of  slave 
states  was  kept  equal  to  that  of  free  states,  so  that  neither 
section  might  have  a  majority  in  the  Senate;  Indiana  in  1816 
was  balanced  by  Mississippi  in  1817  ;  Illinois  in  1818  was  fol- 
lowed by  Alabama  in  1819.  The  North,  including  the  North- 
west, grew  so  much  faster  than  the  South,  that  in  1820  (under 
the  application  of  the  three-fifths  rule)  there  were  105  free- 
state  members  in  the  House  to  81  slave-state  members. 

In  1818  the  people  of  Missouri  petitioned  for  admission  into 

251.  Mis-  the  Union.  Though  in  situation,  population,  and  prod- 
promise111"  ucts  a  western  rather  than  a  southern  community,  they 
(1819-1821)  had  slaves  and  wanted  to  keep  them.     When  in  February, 


SETTLING  THE    WEST   (1800-1820)  299 

1819,  a  bill  for  admission  came  up,  an  antislavery  amend- 
ment, introduced  by  James  Tallmadge  of  New  York,  passed 
the  House  by  the  close  vote  of  87  to  86  ;  but  the  Senate  refused 
to  accept  it,  and  the  bill  went  over. 

During  1819  many  northern  legislatures  and  public  meetings 
declared  that  Missouri  must  never  be  a  slave  state.  When 
Congress  reassembled  in  December,  1819,  a  bill  passed  the 
House  to  admit  Maine  (at  that  time  a  "  district "  of  Massachu- 
setts) as  a  new  state ;  and  another  bill  for  the  admission  of 
Missouri.  To  the  latter  the  House,  by  a  test  vote  of  94  to  86, 
added  an  amendment  prohibiting  slavery  in  Missouri.  The 
Senate  united  the  two  measures  into  one  bill,  but  instead  of 
the  House  prohibition  accepted  the  amendment  of  Senator 
Thomas  of  Illinois,  forever  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  north  of  36°  30'  north  latitude,  except  in  Missouri. 
After  a  few  days  of  great  excitement,  the  House  accepted  the 
Thomas  amendment  as  a  compromise ;  Maine  was  admitted  at 
once,  and  the  people  of  Missouri  were  allowed  to  form  a  slave- 
holding  constitution. 

The  Missouri  constitution  was  found  to  make  it  the  duty  of 
the  legislature  to  prevent  the  coming  in  of  free  negroes.  This 
provision  produced  a  second  uproar  and  led  to  a  second  compro- 
mise, engineered  by  Henry  Clay  in  1821,  by  which  the  legisla- 
ture of  Missouri  agreed  to  make  no  law  infringing  on  the  rights 
of  citizens  of  other  states ;  and  Missouri  was  at  last  admitted  to 
the  Union. 

The  essence  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  the  drawing  of 
a  geographical  line  across  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  north  of 
which  there  were  to  be  no  slaveholding  territories,  and  no 
slaveholding  states  except  Missouri;  that  is,  the  act  contin- 
ued as  far  as  the  western  boundary,  the  old  geographical  sep- 
aration of  slaveholding  and  free  territory  along  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  and  the  line  of  the  Ohio  River.  The  compromise 
thus  excluded  slavery  from  the  larger  part  of  the  Louisiana 


300 


SETTLING   THE    WEST    (1800-1820)  301 

Purchase,  and  also  recognized  the  right  of  Congress  to  deal 
with  slavery  in  the  territories. 

The  compromise  had  plenty  of  enemies  on  both  sides.    John 
Randolph    of   Virginia   politely   called   it  "a  dirty  bargain." 
John  Quincy  Adams,  when  his  friend  Calhoun  threatened  seces- 
sion, made  perhaps  the  first  prophecy  of  a  civil  war  when  John 
he  asked  whether  in  such  a  case  "  the  population  of  the          Adams, 

x    x  Memoirs, 

North  .  .  .  would  fall  back  upon  its  rocks  bound  hand  IV.  530 

and  foot  to  starve,  or  whether  it  would  not  retain  its  powers  of 
locomotion  to  move  southward  by  land." 


mary 


The  West  began  to  come  forward  about  the  year  1815  as  a 
vital  part  of  the  nation  and  as  a  great  political  force  in  the 
national  government.  It  was  settled  rapidly  and  tumul-  252.  Sum- 
tuously,  so  that  in  1820  there  were  2,600,000  people  west 
of  the  mountains.  They  came  from  the  East  in  four  main 
streams  of  settlement:  (1)  from  New  England  and  the  mid- 
dle states  to  the  belt  of  country  between  the  Lakes  and  the 
Ohio ;  (2)  across  the  mountains  from  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
and  western  Pennsylvania,  to  build  up  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee ;  (3)  from  the  South  to  southern  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illi- 
nois; (4)  from  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  westward  to  build 
up  the  communities  of  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana. 

At  first  the  West  was  all  frontier  and  had  many  of  the  dis- 
advantages of  frontier  life,  —  poverty,  ignorance,  and  popular 
excitement,  —  but  there  was  a  sound  and  strong  fiber  in  the 
people.  Congress  began  to  recognize  the  importance  of  the 
West  by  building  the  National  Road  and  choosing  Henry  Clay 
to  be  Speaker ;  and  the  Erie  Canal  gave  an  outlet  to  the  sea. 
As  a  result*  of  slavery,  the  western  communities  began  to  be 
divided,  and  took  part  in  the  great  contest  of  1820  over  the 
admission  of  Missouri,  by  which  all  the  region  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  like  that  east  of  it,  was  divided  into  a  free  and  a 
slaveholding  section. 


302 


NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 


TOPICS 


Suggestive 
topics 


Search 
topics 


(1)  What  part  of  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi  is  prairie  ? 
(2)  What  became  of  the  big  trees  in  the  West  ?  (3)  Why  was 
there  no  early  road  from  Philadelphia  directly  west  to  Pittsburg  ? 
(4)  Why  did  the  western  states  soon  elect  their  judges  ?  (5)  Why 
was  Henry  Clay  a  great  Speaker  ?  (6)  How  did  slaves  come  to  be 
in  Missouri  ? 

(7)  Chicago  up  to  1829.  (8)  St.  Louis  up  to  1829.  (9)  The 
road  from  Rochester  to  Buffalo.  (10)  Plank  roads.  (11)  Flat- 
boats  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi.  (12)  Indian  attacks  on  river 
travelers.  (13)  Traveling  on  the  Cumberland  Road.  (14)  Trav- 
eling on  the  Erie  Canal.  (15)  Early  western  schools.  (16)  Camp- 
meeting  scenes.  (17)  Early  life  of  Henry  Clay.  (18)  Arguments 
for  the  Compromise  of  1820.  (19)  Objections  to  the  Compromise. 
(20)  Why  did  the  colonization  of  negroes  in  Africa  fail  ? 


REFERENCES 


Geography- 


Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


See  maps,  pp.  291,  300;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  150- 
168,  246-277  ;  Turner,  New  West. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  119-127,  136  ;  Turner,  New 
West;  Schouler,  United  States,  II.  205-278,  III.  96-109,  134-173  ; 
McMaster,  United  States,  III.  123-142,  459-495,  IV.  381-429,  570- 
601,  V.  13-18,  170-175;  Adams,  United  States,  IX.  148-174; 
Larned,  History  for  Beady  Beference,  III.  2341,  2925,  V.  3359 ; 
Higginson,  Larger  History,  390-393,  404-422  ;  Wilson,  American 
People,  III.  234-255;  Hinsdale,  Old  Northwest,  313-328,  351- 
367,  380-392  ;  Hosmer,  Mississippi  Valley,  153-167 ;  Sparks,  Ex- 
pansion, 220-274;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  I.  1-47,  137-146,  172- 
202  ;  Roosevelt,  T.  H.  Benton,  1-20,  32-40 ;  McLaughlin,  Lewis 
Cass,  1-33,  95-132;  Gilman,  James  Monroe,  128-143,  147-158, 
191-202. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  90-93,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  135-141, 
—  Source  Beaders,  III.  §§  11,  34-39,  42-53;  MacDonald,  Select 
Documents,  nos.  35-42  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  no.  108  ;  Caldwell, 
Survey,  142-144,  233-245 ;  Johnston,  American  Orations,  II. 
33-101.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  342-343,  — 
Historical  Sources,  §  83. 

Bryant,  Hunter  of  the  Prairies ;  Cooper,  The  Prairie ;  J.  E. 
Cooke,  Leather  Stocking  and  Silk ;  Edward  Eggleston,  Circuit 
Bider;  A.  G.  Riddle,  AnseVs  Cave. 

Wilson,  American  People,  III. ;  Sparks,  Expansion. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
THE   NEW   NATIONAL   SPIRIT   (1815-1829) 

After  the  War  of  1812  the  population,  wealth,  and  national 
feeling  of  the  United  States  advanced  with  leaps  and  bounds. 
An  immense  export  and  import  trade  sprang  up  again ;   253.  Mainl- 
and the  war  taxes  brought  in  so  much  revenue  that  they        and^om! 
could  safely  be  given  up  soon  after  the  peace.     A  com-  merce 

mercial  treaty  with  Great  Britain  (1815)  removed  some  of  the 
impediments  to  trade  with  that  country.  In  1818  the  question 
of  the  northern  fisheries  was  adjusted  by  a  treaty  with  Great 
Britain  (still  in  force)  which  allows  American  fishermen  three 
privileges:  (1)  to  take  fish  inshore  (that  is,  inside  a  line  par- 
allel with  the  coast  and  three  miles  from  shore)  on  parts 
of  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  and  Labrador;  (2)  to  dry  and 
cure  fish  on  unsettled  parts  of  those  coasts ;  (3)  to  enter  har- 
bors of  settled  coasts  for  shelter,  wood,  and  water.  The  treaty 
also  provided  for  a  boundary  on  the  49th  parallel,  from  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Eocky  Mountains ;  and  for  the  joint 
occupation  of  Oregon,  which  then  meant  the  disputed  region 
between  the  Eocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific. 

The  rush  of  importations  was  disturbing  to  the  new  American 
manufactures.  During  the  embargo  times  some  of  the  capital 
which  could  not  be  used  in  shipping,  went  into  little  mills  for 
weaving  coarse  cottons  and  woolens.  At  the  outbreak  of  war 
in  1812  import  duties  were  doubled,  and  the  home  manufacturers 
had  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  market ;  if  foreign  importations 
were  to  be  admitted  at  the  old  rate  of  duty  after  the  war  ended, 
it  seemed  more  than  the  home  manufacturers  could  stand. 

303 


304  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

The  result  was  the  tariff  of  April  27,  1816,  passed  by  test 
votes  of  25  to  7  in  the  Senate,  and  88  to  54  in  the  House  —  a 

254.  Pro-  tariff  which  now  seems  very  low,  but  at  the  time  was 
tariff  of  thought  highly  protective.  It  was  supported  by  a  new 
1816  combination  :  (1)  New  England  and  middle  state  manu- 
facturers ;  (2)  western  farmers  under  the  leadership  of  Henry 
Clay  ;  (3)  South  Carolina  planters  under  John  C.  Calhoun,  who 
interested  his  constituents  by  the  hope  of  building  up  cotton 
manufactures  in  South  Carolina.  The  strongest  opponent  was 
John  Randolph  of  Virginia,  who  said  the  only  question  was, 

Contempora-  "Whether  you,  as  a  planter,  will  consent  to  be  taxed, 
ries,  III.  435  jn  order  to  hire  another  man  .  .  .  to  set  up  a  spinning 

jenny."     The  average  rate  of  duties  on  dutiable  goods  in  1811 

was  about  15  per  cent ;  by  the  tariff  of  1816  it  was  raised  to 

20  per  cent. 

Another  evidence  of  national  feeling  was  the  charter  of  the 

second  United  States  Bank  in  1816.     The  bank  founded  by 

255.  Second  Hamilton  had  expired  in  1811,  and  its  place  had  been 
national  taken  by  numerous  state  banks.  After  the  capture  of 
(1816-1819)  Washington  all  the  banks,  except  those  of  New  England, 

suspended  specie  payments,  so  that  bank  notes  were  the  only 
currency.  By  an  act  of  April  10, 1816,  a  second  United  States 
Bank  was  chartered  by  Congress,  with  what  was  then  thought 
the  enormous  capital  of  $ 35,000,000,  of  which  the  United  States 
was  to  own  one  fifth.  The  main  public  services  of  the  bank 
were :  (1)  to  furnish  sound  paper  currency,  and  to  influence  the 
state  banks  to  pay  their  notes  in  specie ;  (2)  to  act  as  financial 
agent  of  the  government  in  receiving  and  paying  money ;  (3)  to 
hold  on  deposit  the  government  balance,  which  ranged  from 
$3,000,000  to  $10,000,000.  After  one  false  start  and  danger 
of  failing,  the  bank  established  branches  far  and  wide,  and  did 
a  large  and  profitable  business. 

Another  significant  evidence  of  national  spirit  was  the  atti- 
tude  of  the  Supreme  Court   from   1801   to  1825,  under   the 


THE   NEW  NATIONAL   SPIRIT    (1815-1829) 


305 


256.  John 

Marshall 

and  the 

Supreme 

Court 


guidance  of  Chief-Justice  John  Marshall  of  Virginia.  Mar 
shall  was  born  in  1755,  served  as  a  captain  in  the 
Eevolutionary  War,  studied  law,  and  sat  in  the  state 
legislature  and  in  the  Virginia  ratifying  convention  of 
1788.  In  1797  he  became  a  Federalist  member  of  the 
House,  then  Secretary  of  State,  and  near  the   end   of 

Adams's  term  was  ap- 
pointed Chief  Justice,  and 
held  that  high  office  until 
1835. 

Marshall  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  of  Amer- 
icans. He  was  a  simple 
householder,  who  often 
carried  home  his  own  tur- 
key from  the  market,  a 
renowned  expert  in  the 
game  of  quoits,  an  upright 
Christian  gentleman.  His 
colleague,  Story,  said  of 
him:  "I  love  his  Story,  Sto- 
John  Marshall  in  1830.  laugh,  ...  it    is    too  r2/,  /•  167 

From  the  portrait  by  Harding.  hearty   for   an    intriguer, 

and  his  good  temper  and  unwearied  patience  are  equally  agree- 
able on  the  bench  and  in  the  study."  Yet  he  was  the  greatest 
of  American  jurists,  and  his  main  service  was  to  take  advan- 
tage of  cases  which  happened  to  come  before  the  Supreme 
Court  to  set  forth  clearly,  logically,  and  irresistibly  the  true 
principles  of  the  federal  Constitution;  and  he  so  influenced 
five  judges  appointed  by  Jefferson  and  Madison  that  they 
agreed  with  him. 

(1)  The  court  defined  its  own  jurisdiction  by  compelling 
the  state  courts  to  permit  appeals,  even  in  cases  where  states 
were  parties  (case  of  Cohens  vs.  Virginia,  1821). 


306  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

(2)  The  court  asserted  the  constitutionality  of  the  bank  and 
the  doctrine  of  implied  powers  (case  of  McCulloch  vs.  Mary- 
land, 1819).  "  Let  the  end  be  legitimate,"  said  Marshall,  "  let 
it  be  within  the  scope  of  the  Constitution,  and  all  means  which 
are  appropriate,  which  are  plainly  adapted  to  that  end,  which 
are  not  prohibited,  but  consist  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of 
the  Constitution,  are  constitutional." 

(3)  The  court  kept  the  states  to  their  orbit.  It  declared 
certain  state  statutes  void,  because  contrary  to  the  federal  Con- 
stitution (case  of  Fletcher  vs.  Peck,  1810);  and  it  reached  its 
furthest  point  by  declaring  that  a  charter  to  a  private  corpora- 
tion is  a  "  contract "  which,  under  the  federal  Constitution,  can 
not  be  repealed  or  altered  by  the  state  government  (Dartmouth 
College  case,  1819). 

Most  of  the  great  decisions  came  during  the  administration 
of  Madison's  successor,  James  Monroe,  who  was  chosen  Presi- 
257,  Era       dent  in  1816  over  the  Federalist  Rufus  King,  by  183  elec- 
Feeling  ^ora*  votes    to  34.     Monroe  was  overshadowed  by  four 

(1817-1825)  young  Republican  statesmen,  each  of  whom  had  a  just 
ambition  to  be  President ;  Henry  Clay,  Speaker  of  the  House 
and  always  a  critic  of  the  President's  policy;  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Secretary  of  State,  the  strongest  spirit  in  the  admin- 
istration ;  John  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of  War,  then  an  ardent 
nationalist  or  supporter  of  strong  federal  government;  and 
William  H.  Crawford  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a 
keen  politician.  Though  Monroe  and  his  rivals  all  called 
themselves  Republicans,  they  accepted  most  of  the  old  Feder- 
alist doctrines.  The  Federalists  put  up  no  candidate  in  1820, 
so  that  Monroe  was  reelected  without  opposition,  and  by  1822 
the  Federalist  party  had  died  out.  Hence  the  period  got  the 
name  of  the  Era  of  Good  Feeling,  though  in  reality  it  was 
a  time  of  intensely  bad  feeling,  of  jealousy,  of  bitterness, 
intrigue,  and  sharp  disagreement. 

Monroe's  chief  interest  was  in  our  foreign  relations.     After 


THE   NEW  NATIONAL   SPIRIT   (1815-1829)  307 

the  overthrow  of  Napoleon  in  1815,  some  of  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe  entered  into  an   agreement,  commonly  called  "  The 
Holy  Alliance."     They  agreed  that  they  would  "on  all        258.  The 
occasions   and  in  all  places   lend  each  other  aid  and         "IJJtem 
assistance";  and  they  put  the  Bourbons  back  on  the  (1815-1821) 
throne  of  the  Spanish  empire.     Keally  the  plan  was  for  a 
kind  of  mutual  resistance  against  revolutions. 

While  Spain  was  occupied  by  the  French,  the  American 
Spanish  colonies  became  virtually  independent,  but  all  except 
La  Plata  (Argentina)  accepted  the  restored  Bourbon  king  in 
1815.  From  the  Plata  in  1817  the  flame  of  revolution  swept 
across  the  continent  to  Chile,  under  the  leadership  of  General 
San  Martin;  thence  northward  to  Peru  and  Colombia,  then 
called  New  Granada,  where  General  Simon  Bolivar  was  the 
patriot  leader ;  and  in  1821  it  reached  Mexico.  Except  a  few 
fortified  seaports  and  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  all 
the  vast  possessions  of  Spain  in  the  new  world  were  turned 
into  a  group  of  Spanish-American  republics. 

Indirectly  the  United  States  helped  in  the  process  of  extin- 
guishing the  Spanish  power  in  America.  Besides  seizing  the 
disputed  territory  of  West  Florida  (1810-1814),  the  gov-  259.  New 
ernment  tried  to  negotiate  a  treaty  for  the  annexation  of  neighbor! 
East  Florida.  Andrew  Jackson  nearly  upset  the  proceed-  (1809-1825) 
ings  in  1818,  by  pursuing  the  Seminole  Indians  across  the 
border,  and  then  attacking  the  Spanish  posts  of  St.  Marks 
and  Pensacola;  nevertheless,  under  John  Quincy  Adams's 
skillful  management,  a  treaty  was  negotiated  in  1819,  under 
which:  (1)  Spain  for  a  payment  of  $5,000,000  ceded  both 
East  Florida  and  all  claims  on  West  Florida ;  (2)  the  south- 
western boundary  was  settled  by  running  an  irregular  line 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Sabine  River  to  the  source  of  the 
Arkansas  and  thence  due  north  to  latitude  42° ;  (3)  the  Span- 
iards surrendered  all  claims  on  the  Pacific  coast  north  of  the 
42d  parallel. 


308  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

As  soon  as  the  treaty  was  ratified  by  Spain  in  1821,  Monroe 
recognized  the  independence  of  six  Spanish-American  powers 
—  La  Plata,  Chile,  Peru,  Colombia,  Mexico,  and  a  Central 
American  group.  Brazil,  till  then  a  Portuguese  colony,  in 
1825  made  itself  an  independent  American  empire. 

This  change  in  the  conditions  of  South  and  Central  America 
was  very  welcome  to  the  United  States.  Our  people  had  a 
natural  sympathy  with  neighboring  peoples  fighting  for  their 
liberty,  and  besides,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  American 
shipowners  and  American  merchants  were  allowed  to  trade 
freely  with  Spanish-American  ports. 

The  benevolence  of  the  Holy  Alliance  was  tested  in  1823, 

when  the  European  powers  by  force  put  an  end  to  a  revolu- 

260.  The        tion  which  had  broken  out  in  Spain  against  the  arbitrary 

Doctrine        Bourbons.      The    restored    Spanish    government    then 

U  823)  requested  that  the  European  powers  help  to  recover  the 

Spanish  colonies  in  America.     At  about  the  same  time  (1821) 

the  Russian  government  laid  claim  to  the  exclusive  trade  and 

occupation  of  the  northwest  coast,  including  part  of  Oregon ; 

and  both  these  acts  of  interference  in  America  aroused  the 

United  States. 

At  this  opportune  moment  George  Canning,  British  foreign 
minister,  made  the  friendly  suggestion  (August,  1823)  to 
Richard  Rush,  our  minister  in  England,  to  join  with  him  in 
a  declaration  against  the  transfer  of  any  Latin-American 
(Spanish  or  Portuguese)  state  to  another  European  power. 
Monroe  was  inclined  to  accept  Canning's  invitation,  but 
John  Quincy  Adams  was  determined  that  the  United  States 
should  make  a  separate  and  independent  announcement. 
Monroe  yielded  to  the  stronger  mind  of  his  secretary,  and 
allowed  him  to  draft  that  part  of  the  message  of  December  2, 
1823,  which  has  been  commonly  called  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
It  contains  three  main  statements  on  the  American  question:  — 
(1)    On  colonization  :  while  speaking  of  the  northwest  coast, 


THE   NEW   NATIONAL   SPIRIT   (1815-1829)  309 

Monroe  said  that  "the  American  continents,  by  the  free  and 
independent  condition  which  they  have  assumed  and  main- 
tain, are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for 
future  colonization  by  any  European  powers." 

(2)  On  interposition  :  in  discussing  the  proposed  interven- 
tion by  European  powers  against  the  Latin-American  states, 
the  message  says  that  "  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppress- 
ing them,  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their  destiny, 
by  any  European  power"  would  be  considered  unfriendly  to 
the  United  States. 

(3)  On  the  European  political  system:  the  doctrine  runs, 
"  We  should  consider  any  attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their 
system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our 
peace  and  safety." 

Monroe  meant  his  doctrine  to  be  peaceful  and  harmonizing. 
His  argument  was,  in  substance :  (1)  since  the  United  States 
does  not  interfere  in  European  controversies,  we  should  not 
permit  third  parties  to  interfere  in  the  new  world  in  quarrels 
not  their  own;  (2)  we  are  not  hostile  to  existing  colonies  of 
European  powers,  but  it  is  contrary  to  our  interest  that  Latin- 
American  territory  be  conquered  and  occupied  by  foreign  pow- 
ers. The  Monroe  Doctrine  accomplished  its  purpose:  all 
schemes  of  European  intervention  were  given  up ;  and  Russia 
forthwith  made  treaties  with  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  accepting  as  the  southern  boundary  of  Russian  America 
the  parallel  of  54°  40'  north  latitude. 

The  next  exciting  event  in  the  United  States  was  the  presi- 
dential election  of  1824,  in  which  the  alleged  "Era  of  Good 
Feeling"  disappeared.  Crawford  got  the  coveted  nomi-  261.  Elec- 
nation  by  a  caucus  of  Eepublican  members  of  Congress  t">nofl824 
in  1824 ;  but  that  way  of  making  nominations  had  grown  unpop- 
ular. Other  candidates  were  put  forward  by  the  new  method 
of  nomination  by  state  legislatures  —  John  Quincy  Adams  in 
New  England,   Henry  Clay  in   Kentucky  and  several  other 


310  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 

western  states,  and  Andrew  Jackson  in  Tennessee.  Calhoun 
accepted  the  almost  unopposed  nomination  for  Vice  President. 
Of  all  these  nominations  the  most  unexpected  was  that  of 
Andrew  Jackson.  Jackson  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  born 
in  1767  among  the  poor  whites  of  North  Carolina.  He  studied 
law  and  went  out  to  Tennessee  in  1788,  and  was  successively 
public  prosecutor,  member  of  Congress  (1796),  and  federal 
senator  (1797),  then  judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  Tennessee. 
Always  a  testy  man,  he  lived  in  a  part  of  the  country  where 
private  warfare  was  thought  a  fine  thing;  he  fought  several 
duels  and  killed  one  man.  He  commanded  at  New  Orleans 
in  1815,  and  in  Indian  campaigns  in  1817  to  1819. 

It  was  a  hot  and  bitter  campaign,  full  of  personalities.  The 
electoral  votes  turned  out  to  be  99  for  Jackson,  84  for  Adams, 
41  for  Crawford,  and  37  for  Henry  Clay.  There  being  no 
majority  of  electoral  votes,  the  choice  went  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  where  Adams  was  elected  by  the  vote  of  13 
states  to  7  for  Jackson  and  4  for  Crawford  (February  9,  1825). 
The  Jackson  men  insisted  that  inasmuch  as  their  candidate 
had  more  electoral  votes  than  Adams  the  "  will  of  the  people  " 
was  defeated ;  and  a  friend  of  Jackson  also  brought  forward 
the  totally  unfounded  charge  that  Adams  had  bought  his  elec- 
tion by  promising  to  make  Clay  Secretary  of  State.  Jackson 
seems  never  to  have  doubted  the  truth  of  this  slander. 

No  man  of  his  time  was  better  qualified  than  John  Quincy 
Adams,  by  character  and  training,  for  his  great  office.     As 
262.  Presi-    Federalist  senator  from  Massachusetts  in  1807,  he  voted 
dent  John      for  Jefferson's  embargo,  and  was  thereupon  dropped  by  his 
Adams  own  party.     He  became  a  Kepublican,  minister  to  Russia, 

(1825-1829)  one  0f  tne  peace  commissioners  at  Ghent,  minister  to  Eng- 
land, and  from  1817  to  1825  Secretary  of  State.  Adams  was 
by  nature  an  expansionist.  He  would  have  liked  to  annex 
Canada;  he  was  especially  interested  in  Cuba;  he  wanted  to 
buy  Texas;   he  got  rid  of  both  Spanish  and  Russian  claims 


THE   NEW   NATIONAL   SPIRIT    (1815-1829) 


311 


to  the  Oregon  region ;  and  he  went  farther  than  Monroe  in  his 
interest  in  our  Spanish-American  neighbors. 

A  methodical,  able,  and  hard-working  President,  just  and 
honorable  in  all  his  public  and  private  relations,  Adams  was 
still  cold  in  manner,  and 
had  few  close  and  warm 
friends  till  he  retired  from 
the  presidency.  He  was 
then  elected  to  the  House 
(1830)  and  spent  seven- 
teen years  there,  in  which 
he  revealed  magnificent 
power  as  a  debater  and 
became  the  champion  of 
the  North. 

Hardly  had  Adams  be- 
come President  when  the 
United  States  was  invited 
to   send    delegates    to    a 


John  Quincy  Adams,  about  1825. 
From  the  portrait  by  Stuart. 


congress  at  Panama,  in  1826,  to  consult  on  the  common  affairs 
of  America.  The  Senate  hung  back,  and  the  President  and 
his  Secretary  of  State,  Clay,  were  obliged  to  cut  down  the 
powers  of  the  commissioners.  The  congress  was  a  failure, 
and  our  delegates  arrived  too  late  for  the  meeting.  During 
much  of  his  term  as  President,  Adams  found  himself  checked 
and  humiliated  at  every  turn  by  partisan  opposition  in  Con- 
gress, and  could  carry  through  none  of  his  plans. 

The  tariff  of  1816  did  not  bring  prosperity  to  the  country. 
Overtrading  and  speculation   continued;  the   duties   did  not 
shut  out  foreign  goods,  and  hence  did  not  suit  the  manu-  263.  The 
facturers.     In  1819  there  was  a  commercial  panic.     A  J ^  ana 
new  tariff,  drawn  up  in  1820,  was  defeated  in  the  Senate  1828 

by  one  vote.  In  1824  a  tariff  was  passed  by  narrow  majorities 
in  both  Houses  (May   22),   which  raised   duties   somewhat, 


312  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

and  for  the  first  time  taxed  certain  raw  materials  of  New 
England  manufactures,  including  raw  wool.  The  strongest 
northern  opponent  of  the  tariff  in  1824  was  Daniel  Webster, 
member  from  a  shipowning  district,  who  declared  that  "the 
Webster  general  sense  of  this  age  sets,  with  a  strong  current,  in 
Works,  favor  of  freedom  of  commercial  intercourse,  and  unre- 

strained individual  action."  The  great  champion  of  the 
tariff  was  Henry  Clay,  who  argued  for  his  "  American  System." 
A  strong  and  persistent  objection  to  protective  tariffs, 
whether  high  or  low,  made  itself  felt  in  the  South,  where  the 
hopes  of  establishing  manufactures  with  slave  labor  had  come 
to  nothing.  In  1828  a  new  tariff  bill  was  introduced  into  Con- 
gress, and  was  now  supported  by  Webster  on  the  ground  that 
his  constituents  had  in  good  faith  changed  their  investments 
over  to  manufactures.  Opponents  of  the  bill  introduced 
amendments  raising  the  duties  on  raw  materials,  in  the  ex- 
pectation that  the  friends  of  the  bill  would  vote  against  it 
in  its  amended  form,  and  it  therefore  became  known  as  "  The 
Tariff  of  Abominations."  Nevertheless,  it  became  a  law  (May 
19,  1828).  The  average  rate  of  duty  paid  on  dutiable  goods 
rose  from  36  per  cent  in  1826  to  49  per  cent  in  1830  —  the 
highest  tariff  in  the  United  States  up  to  the  Civil  War. 

Protests  rained  upon  Congress.     The  Boston  moneyed  men 
protested ;  four  southern  legislatures  protested ;  most  impor- 
264.  Dis-       tant  of  all,  South  Carolina  and  John  C.  Calhoun  pro- 
content         tested.     At  first  a  strong  advocate  of  a  national  bank, 
over  tne  ^  ° 

tariff  a  tariff,  and   internal  improvements,  in  the  confidence 

that  the  federal  government  would  help  develop  his  own  state 
of  South  Carolina,  Calhoun  gradually  came  to  see  that  Con- 
gress could  do  little  for  a  state  which  had  no  manufactures, 
and  which  depended  on  slave  labor. 

In  1828  Calhoun  wrote  a  long  argument,  called  Tlie  Expo- 
sition (published  without  his  name),  in  which  he  argued  not 
only  that  a  protective  tariff  was  unconstitutional,  but  that  any 


THE  NEW  NATIONAL  SPIRIT   (1815-1829)  8lB 

state  had  a  right  to  nullify  a  federal  law  which  it  thought 
unconstitutional,  by  forbidding  it  to  be  executed  within  the 
state  limits ;  if  other  states  disagreed,  they  might  call  a  con- 
vention, and  unless  three  fourths  of  the  states  in  that  conven- 
tion approved  the  law,  it  would  have  to  be  abandoned  (see 
§  273). 

People  began  to  tire  of  personal  rivalries  in  politics,  and 
to  look  for  questions  which  really  divided  the  nation.  After 
the  disappearance  and  supposed  murder  of  one  Morgan,  265.  Elec- 
who  had  revealed  secrets  of  the  fraternity  of  Free  tionofl828 
Masons,  an  attempt  was  made  to  found  an  Anti-masonic  Party 
in  1827 ;  but  opposition  to  free  masonry  was  not  a  national  or 
a  permanent  issue. 

In  the  election  of  1828  the  only  candidates  for  the  presidency 
were  Adams  and  Jackson;  and  the  only  vital  issue  was  the 
personal  one,  whether  Adams  was  a  good  man  who  deserved 
reelection,  or  Jackson  was  a  representative  of  the  people  who 
ought  to  supplant  him.  Adams  was  the  subject  of  scurrilous 
campaign  literature ;  it  was  charged  "  that  he  was  rich ;  that 
he  was  in  debt ;  that  he  had  long  enjoyed  public  office."  On 
the  other  side  an  Adams  man  printed  a  "coffin  handbill,,, 
charging  Jackson  with  the  illegal  execution  of  six  men  thir- 
teen years  before  on  a  technical  charge  of  desertion. 

Jackson's  election  was  almost  assured  in  advance  by  a  com- 
bination of  the  West  and  South  with  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York,  a  majority  of  the  electoral  votes  of  which  was  turned 
over  to  Jackson  by  Martin  Van  Buren,  head  of  the  so-called 
Albany  Regency.  Jackson  got  178  electoral  votes  to  83 ;  and 
his  popular  vote  was  about  650,000  to  500,000  for  Adams.  As 
an  enthusiastic  friend  and  admirer  of  Jackson  says,  "  General 
Jackson  was  therefore  triumphantly  elected  President  of  the 
United  States  in  the  name  of  reform  and  as  the  standard 
bearer  of  the  people. " 


314  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

During  the  fifteen  years  from  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812  to 
the  end  of  John  Quincy  Adams's  administration,  all  sections 
266.  Sum-  called  upon  the  federal  government  to  make  a  new  finan- 
mary  cial  and  economic  system.     Congress  responded  by  creat- 

ing the  second  United  States  Bank  (1816),  which  became  a 
sound  and  useful  institution,  affording  a  good  currency  and  ex- 
ercising a  healthful  influence  on  the  state  banks.  Except  the 
Cumberland  Road,  national  internal  improvements  failed  for 
the  time  because  of  Madison's  and  Monroe's  vetoes  of  1817 
and  1822.  The  protective  tariff  of  1816  satisfied  nobody,  and 
every  four  years  thereafter  new  bills  were  introduced,  two  of 
which  were  passed  in  1824  and  1828.  Each  raised  the  rate 
of  duties  over  the  previous  ones ;  duties  on  raw  materials  were 
added,  and  the  "Tariff  of  Abominations"  caused  widespread 
protest,  and  in  South  Carolina  led  to  threats  of  "nullification." 

The  revolt  of  the  Spanish-American  colonies  gave  new 
neighbors  and  new  anxieties  to  the  United  States,  which 
soon  recognized  the  independence  of  the  new  states.  When 
a  European  alliance  attempted  to  interfere  in  the  new  world, 
the  United  States  gave  a  warning  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

In  politics  the  Federalist  party  died  out,  partly  because  of 
its  unpopular  course  during  the  War  of  1812,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  its  chief  principles  had  been  accepted  by  the  other 
party,  and  were  applied  by  the  Supreme  Court.  When  the 
Eepublicans  had  no  other  enemies,  they  fell  into  personal  fac- 
tions ;  and  the  elections  of  1824  and  1828  turned  not  on  na- 
tional issues,  but  on  personal  preferences. 

TOPICS 

Suggestive  (1)  Why  did  Great  Britain  give  a  privilege  of  fishing  inside  the 

opics  three-mile  limit  ?     (2)  Why  was  a  joint  occupation  agreed  on  for 

Oregon  ?  (3)  Why  did  Calhoun  favor  a  tariff  in  1816  ?  (4)  Why 
did  John  Randolph  oppose  a  tariff  ?  (5)  Why  did  the  Republicans 
take  over  the  Federalist  principles  ?  (6)  On  what  ground  did 
Jackson  invade  Florida  ?     (7)  On  what  grounds  did  Russia  claim 


THE  NEW   NATIONAL   SPIRIT   (1815-1829) 


315 


the  northwest  coast  ?  (8)  Why  was  the  caucus  system  of  nomi- 
nation unpopular  in  1824  ?  (9)  Why  was  Jackson's  nomination 
unexpected  in  182-1  ? 

(10)  Disputes  on  the  tariff  of  1816 ;  of  1820  ;  of  1824  ;  of  1828. 
(11)  John  Marshall's  character  and  private  life.  (12)  William 
H.  Crawford's  public  life.  (13)  Revolutions  in  Spanish  America 
from  1800  to  1820.  (14)  Debates  in  the  Cabinet  in  1823  on  the 
Monroe  Doctrine.  (15)  Andrew  Jackson  as  a  judge.  (16)  Charge 
of  a  corrupt  bargain  between  Clay  and  Adams.  (17)  Protests 
against  the  tariff  of  1824.  (18)  John  C.  Calhoun  as  a  nationalist. 
(19)  Calhoun's  doctrine  of  nullification  as  set  forth  in  the  Exposi- 
tion of  1828. 


Search 
topics 


REFERENCES 


Secondary 
authorities 


See  map,  p.  300  ;  Turner,  New  West. 

Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  §§  120-125,  128-140  ;  Wilson, 
Division  and  Reunion,  §§  8-10,  25-27  ;  Stanwood,  Presidency,  106- 
150  ;  Turner,  New  West;  Schouler,  United  States,  II.  446-463,  III. 
1-96,  109-133,  173-178,  189-150;  McMaster,  United  States,  III. 
496-514,  IV.  280-380,  430-521,  V.  ;  Adams,  United  States,  IX.  106- 
148,  187-197  ;  Gay,  Bryant's  History,  IV.  244-259,  276-296  ;  Gordy, 
Political  Parties,  II.  333-389,  445-581  ;  Peck,  Jacksonian  Epoch, 
1-122  ;  Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§  66-80  ;  Stanwood,  American  . 
Tariff  Controversies,  I.  111-348;  Hart,  Foundations  of  American 
Foreign  Policy,  211-218  ;  Latane\  United  States  and  Spanish  Amer- 
ica, 9-105  ;  Sato,  Land  Question,  53-60  ;  Gilman,  James  Munroe, 
143-147,  159-179  ;  Morse,  J.  Q.  Adams,  107-118,  122-219  ;  Schurz, 
Henry  Clay,  I.  126-171,  203-311  ;  Sumner,  Andreio  Jackson,  60- 
150 ;  Brown,  Andrew  Jackson,  87-117  ;  Thayer,  John  Marshall ; 
Lodge,  Daniel  Webster,  60-166 ;  Shepard,  Martin  Van  Buren, 
88-176. 

Hart,  Source  Readers,  III.  §  10,  — Contemporaries,  III.  §§  130,  Sources 
132-134,  142-150;  MacDonald,  Select  Documents,  nos.  33,  34, 
43-45 ;  American  History  Leaflets,  nos.  4,  24  ;  Old  South  Leaflets, 
nos.  56, 129  ;  Ames,  State  Documents  on  Federal  Relations,  nos.  3, 
4,  pp.  1-31  ;  Hill,  Liberty  Documents,  chs.  xix.  xx.;  Caldwell,  Sur- 
vey, 208-214,  227-233,  —  Territorial  Development,  105-126.  See 
N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  341,  344,  —  Historical 
Sources,  §  83. 

Gustave  Aimard,    Queen  of  the  Savannah  (Spanish-American 
independence). 

Wilson,  American  People,  III. 

hart's  amer.  hist. — 19 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


CHAPTER   XXL 
NEW  POLITICAL  ISSUES   (1829-1841) 

When  Jackson  became  President  in  1829,  the  principles  of 
American  democratic  government  had  in  many  ways  advanced 
267  Amer-  mucn  farther  than  in  1789  :  (1)  many  of  the  states  had 
ican  democ-  rid  themselves  of  the  old  property  and  tax  qualifications 
for  voters;  (2)  nearly  all  the  state  officers,  including 
judges,  were  elected  by  popular  vote  instead  of  being  chosen 
by  the  legislature  or  governor,  as  formerly ;  (3)  the  property 
qualifications  for  officers  were  diminished  or  had  disappeared; 
(4)  by  the  system  of  "rotation  in  office"  state  and  local 
officers  were  chosen  for  short  terms,  and  rarely  reelected  more 
than  once  or  twice;  (5)  minor  officers  in  most  states  and 
municipalities  were  likely  to  be  removed  when  the  opposi- 
tion party  got  into  power ;  (6)  the  cities  were  growing  rapidly 
and  demanded  new  forms  of  government. 

Politics,  too,  had  lost  its  old  simplicity.  The  party  news- 
papers were  still  unscrupulous  and  abusive,  and  there  were 
some  leaders  of  the  type  now  called  party  bosses.  The  party 
in  power  in  a  state  tried  to  keep  in  power  by  distributing 
offices  as  rewards  to  its  followers.  Parties  often  tried  to  per- 
petuate their  power  by  the  "  gerrymander  "  —  that  is,  by  so  ar- 
ranging the  boundaries  of  electoral  districts  that  their  friends 
should  carry  some  districts  by  small  majorities  and  their  op- 
ponents should  carry  fewer  districts  by  large  majorities,  so 
that  the  minority  might  rule.  Violence  at  the  polls  was  fre- 
quent, and  fraud  was  not  unknown. 

The  most  noted  representative  of  the  new  democratic  prin- 

316 


NEW  POLITICAL   ISSUES   (1829-1841) 


317 


ciples  was  President  Andrew  Jackson;  and,  except  Clay,  no 
man  in  all  the  West  was  so  widely  known,  so  experienced  in 
public  affairs,  and  so  capable  of  making  quick  decisions.  268.  An- 
In  personal  appearance  Jackson  was  tall  and  spare,  with  drew  Jack- 
a  high  forehead  and  a  great  mane  of  hair,  which  silvered  man  of  re- 
while  he  was  President.  A  lion  to  his  enemies,  Jackson  sponsibility 
was  the  soul  of  courtesy,  and  to  ladies  almost  a  Don  Quixote. 

All  his  life  long  he  was  accustomed 
to  lead  in  the  community  and  in  the 
army;  hence  he  was  over  quick  to 
make  up  his  mind,  and  when  he  had 
once  come  to  a  conclusion,  could  not 
be  moved  from  it.  A  political  hu- 
morist of  the  time  makes  him  say, 
"It  has  always  bin  my  way, 
when  I  git  a  notion,  to  stick  to  Jack 

it  till  it  dies  a  natural  death;       Downing 
and  the  more   folks   talk   agin  my 
notions,  the  more  I  stick  to  'em." 

On  the  whole  Jackson's  instincts 
were  right;  he  hated  monopoly  and 
corporate  greed  and  private  advan- 
tage from  public  office.  He  saw 
much  better  than  most  men  of  his 
time  the  dangers  likely  to  result 
from  the  national  government's  try- 
ing to  help  the  states  and  the  business  men.  His  fault  was  that 
he  looked  upon  the  government  as  a  kind  of  military  organiza- 
tion in  which  it  was  treason  to  the  country  to  interfere  with 
the  orders  of  the  commanding  general.  If  he  had  a  prejudice 
against  a  man,  he  thought  that  man  his  enemy,  and  because 
Jackson's  enemy,  of  course  an  enemy  to  his  country.  Yet  it 
is  true  that  Jackson  was  a  living  representative  of  the  opin- 
ions of  a  majority  of  the  voters  in  the  United  States. 


Andrew  Jackson, 
about  1830. 

From  an  old  print  of  Earle's 
portrait. 


318  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 

Jackson's  military  principles  were  carried  into  his  appoint- 
ments.    His  Cabinet  had  no  eminent  member  except  Martin 
269.  Ap-        Van  Buren,  the  Secretary  of  State,  "  The  Little  Magician," 
pointments    renowned    for   his    urbanity    and   political    shrewdness. 
movals  Alongside  his  official  Cabinet  was  the  coterie  of  personal 

(1829-1837)  friends  satirically  called  the  "Kitchen  Cabinet,"  which 
contained  the  real  advisers  of  the  President,  including  Van 
Buren;  Major  Eaton,  Secretary  of  War;  Amos  Kendall,  later 
brought  into  the  post  office  to  dismiss  the  local  postmasters ; 
and  Duff  Green,  editor  of  the  Telegraph,  the  Jackson  organ. 
It  was  a  mistake  to  appoint  other  men  to  the  Cabinet  whom 
he  did  not  care  to  consult. 

Never  before  that  time  had  a  President  been  so  "beset  with 
office  seekers ;  and  the  principal  way  in  which  vacancies  could 
be  found  was  by  ejecting  those  who  already  held  office.  To  the 
day  of  his  death  Jackson  declared  that  no  man  was  removed 
without  a  reason  ;  but  he  was  easily  persuaded  that  hundreds 
of  important  officers  were  lazy,  or  corrupt,  or  political  parti- 
sans. Hence  in  his  eight  years  he  removed  252  of  the  610 
officers  appointed  by  the  President ;  and  nobody  knows  how 
many  clerks  and  subordinates  went  with  their  chiefs.  The 
vacancies  thus  made  were  filled  without  much  discrimination, 
and  the  Senate  threw  out  many  of  his  nominations.  Yet  it 
is  an  injustice  to  Jackson  to  hold  him  responsible  for  bring- 
ing the  system  of  partisan  politics  to  Washington.  He  really 
meant  to  carry  out  what  he  called  "the  task  of  reform,"  but 
he  demoralized  the  public  service,  because  he  took  the  advice 
of  people  intent  chiefly  on  their  own  political  fortunes. 

Jackson's  character  was  clearly  brought  out  in  his  quarrel 
270  J  k  with  the  United  States  Bank.  That  bank  had  powerful 
son's  war  rivals  in  the  western  state  banks,  of  which,  in  1829,  there 
United  were  about  three  hundred.     Another  set  of  enemies  was 

states  Bank  created  when  Biddle,  president  of  the  bank,  refused  to 
(1829-1832) 

remove  some  branch  bank  officers  and  to  substitute  Jack- 


NEW  POLITICAL  ISSUES   (1829-1841)  319 

son  men  (1829).  Its  most  dangerous  enemy  was  Jackson,  be- 
cause he  represented  an  enormous  constituency  of  farmers  and 
small  traders  who  were  convinced  that  the  eastern  capitalists 
were  getting  more  than  their  share  of  the  annual  products  of 
the  country.  Jackson  believed  also,  and  with  reason,  that  the 
bank  sooner  or  later  would  become  a  political  force. 

Accordingly,  beginning  in  his  message  of  1829,  year  after 
year  Jackson  repeated  a  warning  that  the  bank  was  dangerous, 
unsound,  and  unconstitutional ;  till,  in  1832,  as  the  presidential 
election  was  approaching,  the  friends  of  the  bank,  under  Clay's 
leadership,  made  up  their  minds  to  force  the  issue  into  the 
campaign.  They  therefore  passed  a  recharter  bill  in  both 
houses,  four  years  before  the  charter  of  1816  was  to  expire; 
and  Jackson,  as  was  expected,  vetoed  it  (July  10,  1832). 

The  bank  question  was  for  a  time  pushed  aside  by  the  threats 
of  South  Carolina  to  nullify  the  offensive  tariff  acts.     The  tem- 
per of  the  states  was  shown  in  a  debate  in  the  Senate    271.  Nulii- 
in  1830,  in  which  Senator  Hayne  stood  up  for  the  right  debates 

of  a  state  to  declare  a  federal  statute  void  (§  273).  (1828-1832) 
Webster  of  Massachusetts  seized  the  opportunity  in  his 
"  Second  Reply  to  Hayne,"  to  protest,  with  all  his  match- 
less eloquence  and  national  spirit,  against  the  doctrines  of 
the  South  Carolina  Exposition  of  1828,  written  by  Vice- 
President  Calhoun  (§  274).  Jackson's  position  on  nullifica- 
tion was  not  clearly  made  known  till  April,  1830,  when,  at 
a  dinner  on  Jefferson's  birthday,  he  was  called  on  for  a  toast 
and  gave  "  Our  Federal  Union  :  it  must  be  preserved."  A 
few  weeks  later  Jackson  quarreled  with  Calhoun  on  private 
grounds,  and  broke  off  relations  with  the  Vice  President. 

A  last  effort  was  made  to  get  Congress  to  reduce  the  offen- 
sive tariff,  and  a  new  tariff  was  passed  (July  14,  1832) ;  but 
Clay  saw  to  it  that  the  protective  duties  of  1824  were  left  in, 
and  some  of  them  raised ;  though  the  average  rate  of  duty  was 
reduced  to  about  34  per  cent. 


320  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 

In  the  presidential  campaign  of  1832,  the  direct  issue  was  the 
bank.     For  the  first  time  delegates  gathered  in  general  party 
272.  Poli-      conventions.     The  anti-Jackson  men  met  in  a  "  National 
nullification  ^ePUDncan  Convention,"  made  the  first  national  party 
(1832-1833)  platform,   and   nominated   Henry   Clay.     Jackson   had 
already  been  nominated  by  members  of  several  state  legisla- 
tures, and  his  nomination   was  confirmed  by  a  "Democratic 
National  Convention,"  which  also  adopted  the  two-thirds  rule 
for  making  nominations,  and  proposed  Van  Buren  for  Vice 
President.      The  election  showed  part  of  New  England,  with 
Maryland,  Delaware,  and  Kentucky,  for  Clay,  and  the  rest  of 
the  South  (except  South  Carolina)  and  the  West,  with  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  York,  for  Jackson,  who  had  219  electoral  votes 
to  49  for  Clay,  and  690,000  popular  votes  to  530,000. 

Jackson  accepted  the  election  of  1832  as  an  approval  of  his 
past  course,  and  also  of  all  the  things  that  he  meant  to  do  in 
the  future;  and  something  had  to  be  done  very  soon  in 
South  Carolina.  A  convention  of  that  state,  elected  for  the 
purpose,  passed  an  ordinance,  November  24,  1832,  declaring 
the  tariff  acts  of  1828  and  1832  to  be  "null,  void,  and  no  law, 
nor  binding  upon  this  State,  its  officers  or  citizens."  This 
action  Jackson  treated  as  a  personal  affront.  He  sent  General 
Scott  to  Charleston  to  arrange  for  defending  the  customhouse, 
and  he  issued  a  proclamation  (December  11),  warning  the  people 
of  South  Carolina  against  "the  illegal  and  disorganizing  action 
of  the  convention."  At  Jackson's  request,  an  act,  popularly 
called  the  "  Force  Bill "  or  "  Bloody  Bill,"  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress (March  2, 1833),  giving  the  President  more  power  to  raise 
forces  to  meet  such  a  crisis. 

South  Carolina  began  to  raise  troops,  and  the  country  was 
full  of  excitement.  Calhoun  resigned  the  vice  presidency  and 
came  back  to  the  Senate  in  1833,  in  order  to  defend  his  doc- 
trines in  debates  with  Webster.  In  the  end  South  Carolina 
really  carried  her  point,  for  the  majority  of  Congress  believed 


NEW   POLITICAL  ISSUES    (1829-1841) 


321 


that  the  South  was  wronged  by  the  tariff,  and  under  Clay's 
leadership,  by  the  Compromise  Tariff  of  1833  (March  2),  pro- 
vided that  the  rates  should  be  reduced  at  intervals  till  1842, 
when  they  were  all  to  come  down  to  20  per  cent.  The  object 
of  nullification  having  been  accomplished  without  applying  it, 
all  plans  of  resistance  were  dropped  by  South  Carolina. 

For  the  ideas  and  arguments  behind  the  nullification  move- 
ment, we  look  to  the  addresses  and  speeches  of  John  C.  Calhoun. 
Calhoun  came  of  the  vigorous  Scotch-Irish  race,  was  born     273.  State 
in  1782  in  South  Carolina,  and  entered  Congress  in  1811.      .,   jJfk!j 
As  Monroe's  Secretary  of  War  (1817-1825)  he  was  very         Calhoun 
efficient,   and   as   Vice   President    (1825-1832)    he    was    long 
looked  upon  as  the  probable  successor  to  Jackson.     In  1828 
he   made  a   square   turn 
against   national   powers 
and  worked  out  his  doc- 
trine   of    nullification  — 
a    claim    which    was    a 
magazine  of  argument  for 
the    secessionists   at  the 
time   of  the   Civil   War. 
It   may  be   divided  into 
three   parts  —  the   griev- 
ance, the  nature   of  the 
federal  government,  and 
the  remedy :  — 

(1)  Calhoun's  griev- 
ance was  that  without 
any  constitutional  war- 
rant,   by    the    "tyranny 

of    the     majority,"    the  John  C.  Calhoun,  about  1850. 

tariff   took   a    tax    out    of  From  a  daguerreotype, 

the  pocket  of  the  planters,  and  brought  them  no  advantage. 

(2)  His  theory  of  the  government  was  that  "  the  Union  is 


322 


NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 


a  union  of  states  and  not  of  individuals  "  ;  that  the  Constitution 
is  a  "  compact "  made  by  the  states,  and  as  in  any  other  con- 
tract, if  the  states  on  one  side  failed  to  observe  the  limitations 
of  the  Constitution,  the  other  states  were  freed  from  their  obliga- 
tion ;  that  the  federal  government  had  no  independent  existence, 
but  was  only  an  "  agency." 

(3)  Calhoun  shrank  from  the  logical  remedy,  secession  ; 
and  proposed,  instead,  the  remedy  of  "  nullification,"  by  which 
the  people  of  South  Carolina  were  simply  to  refuse  to  obey 
the  tariff  acts.  For  the  federal  government  to  bring  suits  to 
enforce  the  acts,  or  to  use  force,  seemed  to  Calhoun's  mind  an 
act  of  war,  which  would  dissolve  the  Union  j  and  he  had  no 
doubt  that  other  states  would 
come  to  the  rescue. 

The  spokesman  of  the  national 

theory    of    the   government    was 

274.  Nation-  Daniel    Webster,    born    in 

ol  ESSEf     1782>  in  New  Hampshire,  a 

Webster  graduate  of  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege. In  1813  he  was  sent  to  Con- 
gress from  New  Hampshire ;  then 
in  1823  from  Massachusetts,  and 
in  1828  to  a  senator's  seat  from 
Massachusetts,  which  he  occupied 
most  of  his  life  thenceforth,  with 
two  intervals  of  service  as  Secre- 
tary of  State.  Webster's  theory 
of  the  government  was  substan- 
tially as  follows :  — 

(1)  He  scouted  the  idea  that  the  Constitution  is  a  com- 
pact, and  called  it  an  "instrument  of  government "  for  a  nation. 
"  It  is,  Sir,  the  people's  Constitution,  .  .  .  made  by  the  people, 
and  answerable  to  the  people.  .  .  .  We  are  all  agents  of  the 
same  supreme  power,  the  people." 


Daniel  Webster,  about  1840. 
From  the  portrait  by  Harding. 


NEW   POLITICAL   ISSUES   (1829-1841)  323 

(2)  In  language  which  rang  throughout  the  Union,  he  denied 
the  right  of  nullification  and  declared  the  great  principle  that 
the  states  could  no  more  destroy  the  Union  than  the  Union 
could  destroy  the  states ;  for  both  were  founded  on  the  consent 
of  the  American  people,  taken  as  a  whole. 

(3)  On  the  question  who  should  decide  in  disputes  as  to 
federal  powers,  he  held  that  the  Constitution  provided  a  mode 
"  for  bringing  all  questions  of  constitutional  power  to  the  final 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court." 

Webster's  speeches  were  widely  read  and  became  the  familiar 
doctrine  in  the  North,  especially  in  the  crisis  of  the  Civil  War. 
One  of  the  phrases  just  quoted  appears  in  a  little  different 
form  in  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Address  of  1863. 

The  rivalry  of  South  and  North  in  part  grew  out  of  changes 
in  the  industrial  conditions  of  the  country.      There  was  an  im- 
mense development  in  raw  materials,  especially  coal ;  and   275.  Changes 
the  manufacture  of  pig  iron  was  much  cheapened  when      tri^\  c^t 
it  was  found  that  instead  of  charcoal  or  coke,  anthracite  tions 

coal  could  be  used  (1838)  ;  and  then  that  bituminous  coal  would 
answer  (1846).  Illuminating  gas,  first  made  in  America  in 
1816,  gave  another  new  use  for  coal. 

In  the  twenty  years  from  1820  to  1840  more  labor-saving  in- 
ventions were  brought  forward  than  in  the  whole  history  of 
mankind  before.  The  American  manufacture  of  edge  tools 
began ;  the  invention  of  planing  machines  revolutionized  wood- 
working ;  platform  scales  were  introduced  ;  the  Nasmy  th  steam 
hammer  was  patented  in  1842 ;  the  iron  cook  stove  was  put  on 
the  market  about  1840 ;  friction  matches  (invented  in  England 
in  1827)  slowly  began  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  flint  and 
steel ;  the  first  crude  Colt's  revolver  was  patented  in  1835.  To 
furnish  power  for  cotton  and  woolen  mills,  paper  mills,  and 
other  industries,  dams  were  built  on  the  falls  of  the  rivers  in 
the  eastern,  middle,  and  southern  states;  and  presently  the 
manufacturing  towns  of  Manchester, Nashua,  Lowell,  Lawrence, 


L.L.  POATES,  ENG'R. 


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325 


326  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Holyoke,  Cohoes,  Trenton,  and  others,  grew  up.  The  methods 
of  farming  were  changed  by  farm  machinery.  In  1834  McCor- 
mick  patented  the  first  horse  reaper,  the  basis  of  the  present 
elaborate  mowers  and  reapers.  About  1840  improved  thrash- 
ing machines  began  to  be  used. 

The  ocean  shipping  interest  was  less  affected,  although 
steam  coasters  began  to  come  in  ;  and  in  1819  the  ship  Savan- 
nah, with  auxiliary  steam  power,  voyaged  from  New  York  to 
Savannah  and  thence  to  Liverpool.  The  steamers  Sirius 
and  Great  Western  crossed  the  ocean  from  England,  in  1838, 
practically  under  steam  alone;  and  two  years  later  a  regular 
steamship  line  was  established  from  Boston  to  Liverpool. 
Nevertheless,  the  bulk  of  ocean  freight  was  still  carried  in 
wooden  sailing  ships,  and  the  American  clipper  ship  was  con- 
sidered the  best  in  the  world. 

For  internal  commerce  the  success  of  the  Erie  Canal  led  to 
great  undertakings  by  other  states.  Pennsylvania  began  a 
276.  Inter-  canal  system  across  the  Alleghanies  in  1826,  and  six 
provements  years  later  had  a  railroad  from  Philadelphia  to  Columbia, 
(1825-1841)  a  canal  thence  to  the  base  of  the  mountains,  an  inclined 
road  for  hauling  the  boats  in  sections  over  the  mountains,  and 
a  canal  from  the  other  side  to  Pittsburg.  Several  side  canals 
were  also  constructed  by  Pennsylvania,  including  one  from  the 
Ohio  River  to  Lake  Erie  (finished  1844).  Ohio  in  1825  entered 
upon  the  construction  of  canals  from  several  places  on  the 
Ohio  River  to  Lake  Erie.  Indiana  spent  $8,000,000,  and  the 
476,000  people  of  Illinois  ran  into  debt  $14,000,000,  or  $30 
a  head.  In  1837  Congress  began  to  make  large  gifts  of  public 
land  in  aid  of  state  and  private  canals.  A  few  important 
canals  were  built  by  private  corporations,  especially  the  Dela- 
ware and  Hudson  (1820),  and  the  Schuylkill  Navigation  (1818- 
1825)  for  carrying  coal.  Eventually  about  six  thousand  miles 
of  canals  were  constructed  in  the  United  States,  of  which  less 
than  one  thousand  miles  are  now  in  use. 


NEW  POLITICAL   ISSUES    (1829-1841)  327 

The  growth  in  the  average  size  of  seagoing  vessels  called 
attention  to  the  need  of  deepening  and  otherwise  improving 
the  harbors.  In  1824  Congress  began  to  make  small  appro- 
priations for  such  purposes.  Jackson  was  much  opposed  to 
spending  government  money  for  what  seemed  to  him  only 
private  or  local  advantage,  and  therefore  he  vetoed  a  bill  for  a 
government  road  from  Maysville  on  the  Ohio  toward  Tennessee 
(1830) ;  and  he  refused  to  sign  several  harbor  bills.  Still,  many 
such  improvements  were  made  by  Congress,  among  them  the 
beginning  of  the  Delaware  breakwater  in  1829. 

All    other  forms  of  internal  improvement   were  soon  cast 
into  the  shade  by  railroads,  which  suddenly  cheapened  trans- 
portation, stimulated  travel,  and  built  up  new  states  and      277  First 
cities.     Tramways  for  carrying  heavy  loads  were  built       railroads 
in  1807  near  Boston,  and  in   1810  near  Philadelphia. 
Railroads   were   soon   begun  westward   from   Albany,  Phila- 
delphia,  Baltimore,   and   Charleston ;  but  in  1830  only  122 
miles  had  been  built  by  the  various  companies,  all  for  cars 
to  be  drawn  by  horses. 

Soon  after  1830  several  great  changes  came  about  in  rail- 
roads. An  imported  steam  locomotive  was  introduced  in 
1829  for  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Company ;  in  1830 
Peter  Cooper  built  an  American  locomotive  for  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio,  whereby  horses  were  displaced.  The  inclined 
planes  with  stationary  engines,  which  were  introduced  on 
many  railroads,  were  replaced  by  continuous  tracks  ;  and  on 
some  roads  coal  was  used  as  a  fuel  instead  of  wood.  In  1834 
the  first  long  railroad  in  the  world  was  completed  — 136 
miles  from  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  to  Hamburg,  opposite 
Augusta. 

The  first  railroads  had  stone  sleepers,  or  were  built  on  piles 
driven  along  the  line  of  the  road.  At  right  angles  to  the 
sleepers  were  laid  the  rails,  wooden  stringers  about  six  inches 
square ;  to  these  were  spiked  short  lengths  of  wrought  iron 


328 


NEW   POLITICAL   ISSUES    (1829-1841)  329 

strips  perhaps  half  an  inch  thick,  and  the  curling  up  of  the 
loosely  attached  irons  was  a  common  source  of  accident.  The 
cars  were  at  first  modeled  on  the  old  stagecoaches,  but  the 
roads  soon  began  to  build  the  long  car  with  a  platform  at 
each  end  and  an  aisle  through  the  middle.  Trains  ran  about 
fifteen  miles  an  hour,  and  the  early  fares  were  three  or  four 
cents  a  mile.  As  there  was  no  system  of  train  dispatching, 
accidents  were  frequent. 

At  first  anybody  who  could  pay  the  tolls  was  allowed  to  run 
his  cars  on  the  tracks ;  but  after  locomotives  came  in,  it  was 
seen  that  both  the  roadbed  and  the  motive  power  must  be 
managed  together.  Several  states  looked  on  railroads  as  only 
a  new  type  of  public  highway ;  and  Massachusetts,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Georgia,  North  Carolina,  Michigan,  and  other  states 
built  lines  of  state  railroad;  others  aided  new  roads  with 
grants  of  money.  Since  many  roads  ran  from  one  state  into 
another,  state  ownership  was  difficult ;  and  state  management 
was  expensive  and  clumsy ;  hence  eventually  most  of  the 
states  sold  or  leased  their  lines  to  private  companies. 

The  commercial  question  that  most  interested  Jackson  re- 
lated to  the  United  States  Bank,  which   he  attacked  unre- 
lentingly because  be  thought  it  secretly  bankrupt.     In     278.  Jack- 
September,  1833,  he  ordered  his  Secretary  of  the  Treas-    8°^ofgress 
ury,  Duane,   to   stop  depositing    in   the   bank.      When  (1832-1835) 
Duane  refused,  Jackson  removed  him  and  appointed  Roger  B. 
Taney,  who  gave  the  necessary  6rders.     Though  it  is  the  right 
of  the  President  to  perform   even  ill-judged  actions  within 
his  constitutional  powers,  subject  only  to  public  opinion,  the 
Senate  passed  a  resolution  of  censure  on  the  President ;  but  the 
country  showed  its  approval  in  1834  by  electing  majorities  of 
Jackson  men  to  both  House  and  Senate.     The  deposits  were 
never  restored,  and  when  the  national  charter  expired  in  1836, 
the  bank  could  go  on  only  Under  a  Pennsylvania  state  charter. 

Jackson's  foreign  policy  was  fiery,  but  on  the  whole  sue- 


330 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 


cessful.     He  got  from  Great  Britain  the  long-desired  privilege 
of  carrying  on  West  India  trade  in  American  ships  (1830). 
And  by  rather  undignified  threats,  he  compelled  (1836)  a  settle- 
ment of  the  "  French  Spoliation  Claims  "  for  captures  of  Amer- 
ican merchantmen,  claims  which  had  been  running  thirty  years. 
The  most  serious  foreign  question  of  Jackson's  time  was  the 
attitude  of  the  United  States  toward  the  new   independent 
279.  Re-        nation  of  Texas.    The  name  "  Texas"  was  applied  by  the 
Texas*5  °         Spaniards  and  Mexicans  to  the  region  lying  along  the 
(1819-1836)   Gulf  coast,  beyond  the  western  boundary  of  the  United 
States.    Into  northern  and  central  Texas  Americans  began  to  go 
in  1819,  under  the  leadership  of  Moses  Austin  and  Stephen  F. 

Austin,  who  got  large 
land  grants.  The 
Americans  accepted 
the  government  of 
Mexico  when  that 
power  became  inde- 
pendent (1821),  but 
in  1829,  when  the 
Mexican  government 
abolished  slavery,  the 
Texans  continued  to 
hold  their  slaves,  and 
to  encourage  other 
Americans  to  come  in. 
In  the  hope  of  bring- 
ing    the     wandering 


8CALE  OF  MICE 3  Q 

J      50   100  130  200   250 


GULF    OF 
M'.EXICO 


children  again  under 
Texas  Boundary  Controversy.  the    home    roof f   kotn 

John  Quincy  Adams  and  Andrew  Jackson  made  several  vain 
attempts  to  buy  Texas. 

By  1835  the  spirit  of  independence  was  so  strong  that  the 
Texans  resisted  a  Mexican  force  under  General  Santa  Anna, 


NEW   POLITICAL   ISSUES    (1829-1841) 


331 


the  Mexican  dictator.  In  March,  1836,  under  Sam  Houston, 
a  friend  of  Jackson,  they  declared  their  independence,  drew 
up  a  national  constitution,  and  made  slavery  a  fundamental 
part  of  the  government.  Four  days  later  a  fortified  convent, 
the  Alamo  in  San  Antonio,  was  taken  by  a  Mexican  army  after 
a  brave  defense,  and  every  man  within  it  was  killed.  This 
massacre  sowed  undying  hatred,  and  the  Texans  were  too 
well  organized  and  too  good  fighters  ever  to  be  conquered 
by  Mexico.  They  desired  to  be  annexed  by  the  United 
States;  and  it  might  have  been  brought  about  had  not  the 
North  protested  against  an  annexation  which  would  strengthen 
the  slave  power.  In  October,  1836,  the  Texan  congress  claimed 
a  boundary  "to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  thence  up  the 
principal  stream  of  the  said  river  to  its  source." 

The  Texans  fought  not  only  the  Mexicans  but  also  the  In- 
dians upon  their  borders.     Their  neighbors  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi found  the  In-   280  Indian 

dian    problem    less      difficulties 

,  ,  (1824-1837) 

simple,  as  was  shown 

in  a  long-standing  contro- 
versy between  the  Chero- 
kees  and  Georgia. 

Within  the  boundaries 
of  Georgia  in  1824  were 
about  fifty  thousand 
Creeks,  Cherokees,  and 
Indians  of  other  tribes, 
who  occupied  reservations 
of  eleven  million  acres, 
not  subject  to  the  laws  of 

Georgia.      A    few   Creek 
Indian  Cessions  in  Georgia.  ^.^    ^    ^    gigned   ft 

treaty  for  the  cession  of  the  Creek  lands.    The  Indians  tried  to 
nullify  the  treaty  by  killing  those  who  signed  it ;  but  the  state 


332  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 

of  Georgia  insisted  on  its  right  to  survey  the  land,  and,  when 
President  Adams  interfered,  threatened  to  fight.  Thereupon 
the  Cherokees,  a  rich  people  settled  on  farms,  made  a  new  tribal 
constitution  (1827),  which  showed  that  they  meant  to  remain 
indefinitely  as  a  separate  community  within  the  boundaries  of 
Georgia.  That  state,  without  waiting  for  a  treaty  or  for  the 
consent  of  the  federal  government,  extended  her  authority  over 
the  Cherokee  territory,  shut  the  Indians  out  of  the  state  courts, 
and  made  it  a  crime  for  white  missionaries,  or  any  other  white 
people,  to  remain  within  the  Cherokee  country  except  on  a 
license  from  the  state  of  Georgia.  President  Adams  was  help- 
less, and  the  controversy  went  over  to  the  next  administration. 
Jackson  had  never  loved  the  Indians ;  and  when  he  became 
President,  he  quickly  solved  the  difficulty  with  the  Chero- 
kees by  ruling  that  Georgia  "  possessed  a  right  to  extend  her 
municipal  jurisdiction  over  them."  When  the  Cherokees 
made  up  a  test  case,  and  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that 
Georgia  had  no  jurisdiction  over  the  Indian  country  (1832), 
Jackson  said,  "  John  Marshall  has  made  his  decision,  now 
let  him  enforce  it."  The  Cherokees  yielded  to  their  fate. 
In  1834  Congress  set  apart  the  Indian  Territory  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  to  which  the  Cherokees  were  transferred, 
together  with  the  Creeks,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  and  Semi- 
noles.  The  same  policy  of  removal  was  applied  to  the  tribes 
of  the  Northwest,  causing  in  1832  a  brief  Indian  war  —  the 
Black  Hawk  War  —  in  Illinois.  Part  of  the  Seminoles  came 
back  to  Florida  and  for  ten  years  about  fifty  warriors  defied 
the  United  States  army,  and  cost  the  federal  government 
$20,000,000.  These  wars  practically  ended  the  long  friction 
between  the  two  races,  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  purpose  of  removing  the  Indians  was  to  open  up  land  for 
281.  Immi-  white  settlers.  In  1820  the  United  States  ceased  selling 
pubiiclands  ^s  ^anc^  on  credit,  and  made  laws  under  which  any  pur- 
(1820-1840)  chaser  could  buy  any  quantity  of  land  at  a  maximum 


NEW  POLITICAL   ISSUES    (1829-1841) 


333 


price  of  $1.25  an  acre,  or  $200  a  quarter  section.  The 
demand  for  laborers  brought  a  strong  current  of  immigra- 
tion from  abroad.  Between  1820  and  1829  about  110,000 
people  came;  in  the  next  decade,  over  500,000  people,  many 
of  whom  went  straight  out  to  make  homes  on  the  frontier. 
From  1820  to  1840  the  population  of  the  West  increased 
from  2,600,000  to  7,000,000.  Chicago  in  1833  had  150  contempora- 
wooden  houses,  and  a  visitor  said  of  it,  "Almost  every  per-  ries> IJI-  471 
son  I  met  regarded  Chicago  as  the  germ  of  an  immense  city." 


Chicago  in  1832.     (From  an  old  priut.) 

The  result  of  immigration  and  speculation  was  an  unex- 
ampled demand  for  public  lands ;  in  the  two  years  1835  and 
1836  the  United  States  received  $40,000,000  from  this  source 
alone.  To  prevent  the  accumulation  in  the  treasury  of  a 
surplus  from  the  lands,  various  plans  were  suggested :  (1)  to 
give  the  lands  to  the  states  ;  (2)  to  reserve  the  lands  in  small 
tracts  for  actual  settlers  ;  (3)  to  distribute  among  the  states 
the  surplus  from  the  sales  of  land.  Clay  favored  the  third 
plan,  but  Jackson  in  1833  prevented  it  by  a  veto  of  a  distribu- 
tion bill. 


334  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 

The  election  of  1836  was  practically  settled  beforehand  by 

Jackson,  who  selected  Van  Buren,  required   the    Democratic 

282   The        convention   to  nominate   him,    and    by    his    own   popu- 

panicof         larity  pulled   his    candidate   through.      The   opposition 

was  too  discouraged  to  make  a  party  nomination,  and 

Van  Buren   got   170   electoral  votes   to   124   scattered  votes. 

No  sooner  had  Van  Buren  taken  office  in  March,  1837,  than 

a  financial  panic  was  ready  to  break  upon  the  country  —  the 

worst  that  the  United  States  has  ever  seen.     The  principal 

causes  of  this  calamity  are  the  following :  — 

(1)  Much  banking  business  was  carried  on  imprudently, 
partly  because  of  the  accumulation  of  government  balances  in 
the  "pet  banks"  which  were  selected  in  1833  to  receive  the 
public  deposits.  Depreciated  state  bank  notes  crowded  specie 
out  of  use,  and  an  act  was  passed  (June  28,  1834)  changing 
the  ratio  between  gold  and  silver  (§  196)  to  16  to  1,  so  as  to 
encourage  the  use  of  gold. 

(2)  Lively  speculation  caused  prices  of  cotton  and  other 
exports  to  rise,  so  that  everybody  seemed  to  be  growing  rich. 
The  states  found  that  they  could  borrow  abroad,  and  ran  up 
debts  amounting  to  about  $170,000,000. 

(3)  Lively  speculation  in  western  land  was  backed  up  by 
the  "  pet  banks "  and  their  neighbors.  Jackson  became 
alarmed,  and  suddenly  issued  the  Specie  Circular  (July  11, 
1836),  an  order  directing  that  nothing  but  gold  and  silver 
should  be  received  for  the  public  lands. 

(4)  In  1835  the  national  debt  was  extinguished,  and  a  sur- 
plus began  to  run  up.  To  get  rid  of  it,  in  June,  1836,  Con- 
gress passed  a  statute  —  the  so-called  "Deposit  Act"  —  for 
depositing  with  the  states  (really  for  giving  away)  about 
$36,000,000. 

The  call  on  the  banks  for  the  government  deposits  pre- 
cipitated a  crash.  In  May,  1837,  all  the  banks  of  the  country 
suspended  specie  payments;  and  nine  tenths  of  the  men  in 


NEW  POLITICAL   ISSUES    (1829-1841)  335 

business  in  1836  were  bankrupt  in  1837.  Many  of  the  states, 
for  the  time  being,  defaulted  on  the  interest  on  their  bonds ; 
three  states  repudiated  principal  and  interest,  and  the  money 
loss  to  their  creditors  was  about  $20,000,000. 

The  "pet  banks  "  eventually  turned  over  to  the  government 
$28,000,000  of  public  funds  under  the  Deposit  Act,  and  it  was 
duly  transferred  to  the  states.     Some  of  the  states  spent       2g3  Van 
the  money  on  canals,  some  to  pay  old  debts,  some  for         Buren's 
education,  and  a  few  states  simply  divided  it  among  the       ministra- 
voters.     Slowly  the  country  struggled  up  again  ;  though  tion 

in  a  second  and  lighter  crash  (1839)  the  old  United  States 
Bank  went  completely  to  ruin.     Some  of  the  states,  especially 
New  York,  took  the  lesson  to  heart,  and  passed  new  banking 
laws,  under  which  the  state  banks  were  required  to  protect  their 
notes. 

A  notable  act  of  Congress  during  Van  Buren's  administra- 
tion was  a  statute  of  1840  for  an  independent  treasury,  or 
subtreasury,  as  it  was  often  called,  requiring  the  Treasury  De- 
partment to  keep  its  balances  in  its  own  vaults.  Another 
important  measure  was  the  Preemption  Act  of  1841,  by  which 
any  citizen  of  the  United  States  was  to  be  allowed  once  in  his 
life  to  buy  160  acres  of  arable  government  land. 


The  twelve  years  of  Jackson's  influence  (for  Van  Buren's 
administration  is  only  a  kind  of  extension  of  Jackson's)  were 
marked  by  great  activity  in  public  life.  President  Jack-  284.  Sum- 
son  sincerely  believed  that  the  federal  government  had  mary 
given  as  much  aid  to  individuals  and  states  as  was  safe,  and  that 
it  would  be  better  to  let  the  states  develop  themselves.  Hence 
he  never  showed  any  enthusiasm  over  the  tariff;  he  vetoed 
internal  improvement  bills  right  and  left ;  and  he  attacked  the 
United  States  Bank  just  as  he  used  to  assault  an  Indian  fort; 
he  vetoed  the  Land  Distribution  Bill,  and  reluctantly  approved 
the  Deposit  Act. 

hart's  amer.  hist.  —  20 


336  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 

The  most  serious  discussions  of  this  period  were  on  sec- 
tional questions.  The  tariff  was  upheld  by  eastern,  middle, 
and  western  states,  and  condemned  by  the  South.  Internal 
improvements  most  interested  the  western  states,  because  they 
needed  highways  to  reach  their  market.  The  bank  question 
was  at  bottom  an  issue  between  the  eastern  believers  in  incor- 
porated capital  and  the  western  advocates  of  individual  action. 
Public  land  questions  usually  aroused  West  against  East.  The 
South  usually  held  together  on  sectional  questions,  although  in 
the  nullification  issue  the  other  southern  states  refused  to  back 
up  South  Carolina. 

The  real  force  and  public  spirit  of  Andrew  Jackson  was 
shown  by  the  final  results  of  his  eight  years  in  office.  He 
revived  Jefferson's  principles  of  strict  construction  and  of  as 
little  government  as  possible;  he  hammered  out  in  conflict 
with  Congress  a  set  of  new  principles,  —  low  tariff,  no  United 
States  Bank,  no  federal  internal  improvements,  —  which  served 
the  Democratic  party  for  more  than  fifty  years  thereafter; 
and  he  caused  his  opponents  definitely  to  take  up  the  old 
Federalist  principles  of  loose  construction. 

TOPICS 

Suggestive  (1)  Why  were  some  qualifications  of  voters  and  office  holders  re- 

oplcs  moved  ?     (2)   Why  was  it  difficult  to  frame  good  city  governments  ? 

(3)  Was  the  United   States  Bank    dangerous    to    the  country? 

(4)  How  came  Webster  to  attack  Hayne  in  the  Senate  ?  (5)  Why 
did  Jackson  oppose  nullification  ?  (6)  Why  did  Clay  favor  the 
Compromise  of  1833?  (7)  Why  did  Calhoun  change  his  mind 
on  national  powers?  (8)  Why  have  most  of  the  canals  been 
given  up  ?  (9)  Why  did  Jackson  oppose  internal  improvements  ? 
(10)  Why  did  Jackson  wish  to  annex  Texas  ?  (11)  Did  Jackson 
introduce  the  Spoils  system?  (12)  Had  Georgia  a  right  to  the 
Creek  and  Cherokee  lands  ? 

Search  (13)  Removals  of  federal  officers   for  political  reasons  before 

topics  1830.     (14)  Removals  for  political  reasons  in  New  York  before 

1830.  (15)  Major  Jack  Downing's  opinions  of  Jackson.  (1G)  Jack- 
son's intimate  friends.     (17)  Jackson's  enemies.     (18)  Popular 


NEW   POLITICAL   ISSUES   (1820-1841) 


337 


opinion  of  the  Kitchen  Cabinet.  (19)  Some  of  Jackson's  removals 
from  office.  (20)  Calhoun's  doctrine  of  the  compact.  (21)  Web- 
ster's theory  of  the  origin  of  the  Constitution.  (22)  First  anthra- 
cite and  bituminous  coal  furnaces.  (23)  Ride  on  an  early  railroad. 
(24)  Reasons  for  the  Independent  Treasury  plan.  (25)  City  popu- 
lation in  1700  compared  with  that  in  1840.  (26)  State  railroads 
in  Massachusetts,  or  Pennsylvania,  or  Georgia,  or  Michigan. 


Secondary- 
authorities 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.'  324,  325,  330,  331 ;  Semple,   Geographic  Condi-   Geography 
tions,  168-176  ;  MacDonald,  Jacksonian  Democracy. 

Wilson,. Division  and  Beunion,  §§  7,  12-24,  28-52,  57,  58,  71  ; 
Channing,  United  States,  212-224  ;  Johnston,  Politics,  109-139  ; 
Stanwood,  Presidency,  151-205  ;  MacDonald,  Jacksonian  Democ- 
racy ;  Schouler,  United  States,  III.  451-506,  IV.  31-199,  229- 
296,  316-352  ;  McMaster,  United  States,  V.  2-13,  121-168,  380- 
394,  519-556  ;  Peck,  Jacksonian  Epoch,  123-472  ;  Dewey,  Finan- 
cial History,  §§  81-101 ;  Houston,  Nidlification  in  South  Carolina  ; 
Sato,  Land  Question,  151-168  ;  Sparks,  Expansion,  274-289,  310- 
319,  —Men  who  made  the  Nation,  273-281,  294-334;  Sumner, 
Andrew  Jackson,  176-460  ;  Brown,  Andrew  Jackson,  118-156  ; 
Parton,  General  Jackson,  281-326  ;  Shepard,  Martin  Van  Buren, 
176-397,  449-467  ;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  1.312-384,  II.  1-69,  129-152, 
172-198  ;  Lodge,  Daniel  Webster,  166-234  ;  Hoist,  J.  C.  Calhoun, 
83-120,  183-220  ;  Roosevelt,  T.  H.  Benton,  63-139,  151-209  ;  Bruce, 
General  Houston,  1-136  ;  Trowbridge,  S.  F.  B.  Morse  ;  Raymond, 
Peter  Cooper,  1-51. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §  102,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  158-168, 
185  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Documents,  nos.  46-68,  American  History 
Leaflets,  nos.  24,  30  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  106, 130  ;  Ames,  State 
Documents  on  Federal  Belations,  no.  4,  pp.  32-60  ;  Johnston, 
American  Orations,  I.  233-334,  IV.  202-237.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist. 
Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  345-348,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  84. 

A.  E.  Barr,  Bemember  the  Alamo  ;  Kirk  Munroe,  With  Crockett 
and  Bowie  ;  C.  A.  Davis,  Letters  of  J.  Downing,  Major  (satire  on 
Jackson);  Simms,  Bichard  Hurdis,  —  Border  Beagles  (interior). 
Wilson,  American  People,  IV. ;  Sparks,  Expansion. 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


CHAPTER   XXII. 


SOCIAL  AND   SECTIONAL   CONDITIONS  (1831-1841) 

Side  by  side  with  the  growth  of  democracy  went  a  stronger 
feeling  of  public  responsibility  toward  the  poor,  the  weak,  the 
285    Hu-       friendless,  and  even  the  criminal.     People  began  to  see 
manitarian    that  brutality  to  prisoners  begets  brutality  to  free  men, 
and  that  an  object  of   punishment  is  to  reform.      The 
first  modern  prison  was  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  at  Philadel- 
phia (finished  just  before  1830),  where,  in  order  to  prevent  one 
criminal  from  contaminating  another,  the  prisoners  were  shut 

up  in  separate  cells.     The 
poor  debtor  also  enlisted 
the  sympathy  of  the  com- 
munity,   especially   when 
an  old  Revolutionary  sol- 
dier was  found  who  had 
been    in    jail    for    seven 
years   on   a  debt  of  less 
than  five  dollars.     In  the 
course    of    the    twenties 
and  thirties  all  the  states 
and    the   federal   govern- 
ment passed  laws  releas- 
ing debtors  who  had  noth- 
ing with  which  to  pay. 
Hospitals,    clean     and 
well-kept  poorhouses,  orphan  asylums,  and  institutions  for  the 
deaf,  dumb,  and  blind,  also  began  to  spring  up;   and  in  1841 
came  forward  a  great  woman,  Dorothea  Dix,  who  made  it  the 


Dorothea  Dix  in  1850. 
From  an  engraving. 


SOCIAL   AND   SECTIONAL   CONDITIONS    (1831-1841)      339 

object  of  her  life  to  persuade  people  that  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  state  governments  to  provide  public  asylums  for  the  care 
of  the  insane.     Interest  sprang  up  in  other  neglected  classes 

first  in  the  poor  children,  for  whom  the  Sunday  school  had 

originally  been  founded.  In  1807  some  Williams  College  stu- 
dents became  interested  in  the  heathen  of  other  lands,  and 
stirred  up  the  country  to  form  mission  societies.  For  that 
service  each  of  the  great  denominations  eventually  created  its 
own  boards,  and  home  missionary  societies  were  formed  for 
work  on  the  frontier. 

In  the  thirties  and  forties  came  also  a  new  movement  for 
public  education.  Massachusetts,  under  the  guidance  of 
Horace   Mann,  woke   up   in  1837  to   the  fact  that  she     2g6    Edu 

had  wretched   schoolhouses,   dull    text-books,   untrained         cational 

-r^    ,  t  ^-  reform 

teachers,    and   ill-disciplined    pupils.     Public    sentiment 

was  aroused  in  the  state,  the   school    system  was  improved, 

the  people  began  to  tax  themselves  more  freely,  and  a  state 

Board  of  Education  was  formed.     The  first  normal  school  for 

the  training  of  teachers  was  established  in  1839.     These  ideas 

spread  from  state  to  state ;  and  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 

for  the  first  time  established  thoroughgoing  systems  of  rural 

schools. 

The  system  of  state  universities  was  developed  in  1825  by 
the  founding  of  the  University  of  Virginia  (in  which  Jefferson 
was  specially  interested),  the  first  American  institution  on  the 
German  model,  offering  a  variety  of  elective  studies.  In  the 
thirties  Michigan  established  the  so-called  "  Epistemiad," 
which  developed  into  a  state  university.  In  1837  there  were 
over  seventy-five  endowed  colleges  in  the  country,  besides 
twelve  state  universities  and  various  kinds  of  special  and 
technical  schools.  West  Point  Military  Academy  was  founded 
in  1802,  the  Naval  Academy  in  1846,  and  law  and  medical 
schools  by  1840  were  numerous. 

This  was  also  a  period  of  the  foundation  or  enlargement  of 


340  SECTIONALISM 

libraries  —  the  Astor  in  New  York,  the  Mercantile  in  Philadel- 
phia, the  Athenaeum  in  Boston,  and  many  others.  Museums 
of  art  and  science  were  opened  in  many  cities,  and  the  lyceum 
system  of  public  lectures  brought  into  towns  and  villages  the 
most  eminent  men  of  the  time. 

Within  the  churches  new  duties  were  assumed,  new  socie- 
ties were  founded,  and  several  denominations  were  divided 
287.  The      From  1800  to  about  1830  the  Unitarian  movement  in 
anafmoral     New  England  separated  the  Congregational  Church  into 
reform  two  ecclesiastical  bodies.      The  Presbyterian  Church,  in 

1837,  split  on  doctrinal  questions  into  "  New  School "  and  "  Old 
School."  The  Methodist  Church,  in  1844,  divided  into  a 
northern  and  a  southern  church,  and  the  Baptist  Church  also 
showed  a  disposition  to  divide.  The  Catholic  Church  was 
much  increased  by  steady  immigration,  especially  from 
Ireland  and  Germany. 

Up  to  about  1840  spirituous  liquor  was  used  freely  by  all 
classes :  harvest  hands  received  it ;  it  was  a  part  of  the  regular 
ration  at  sea;  and  it  was  freely  served  even  at  funerals.  The 
Washingtonian  societies,  founded  in  1840,  agreed  to  use  liquor 
in  moderation,  and  from  that  it  was  a  short  step  to  total 
abstinence,  and  in  1846  to  the  "  Maine  Law,"  the  first  of  the 
state  prohibition  laws. 

A  strong  movement  began  about  1830  for  "  Woman's  Rights," 
in  which  Frances  Wright,  and  later  Lucy  Stone,  Susan  B. 
Anthony,  and  others  were  leaders.  Their  demand  for  good 
schools  for  girls  was  heard ;  girls  were  admitted  to  the  public 
schools,  then  into  high  schools ;  academies  were  founded  for 
them ;  and  in  1833  Oberlin  College  was  opened  to  women.  The 
movement  soon  spread  to  a  demand  for  woman  suffrage,  which, 
however,  was  nowhere  granted  till  more  than  a  generation  later. 
"Not  a  leading  man  but  has  a  draft  of  a  new  community 
in  his  waistcoat  pocket,"  said  Emerson.  From  1820  to  1840 
scores  of  societies  undertook  to  end  sin  and  poverty  by  some 


SOCIAL   AND   SECTIONAL  CONDITIONS    (1831-1841)     341 

new  form  of  what  was  really  monastic  life.     For  instance, 
Robert   Owen,   an   English   enthusiast,    came   over   and  2gg    E      h 
founded  "  The  New  Harmony  Community  of  Equality  "  of  com- 

in  Indiana  (1824),  in  which  the  men  and  women  wore  a        unities 
uniform,  and  the  community  undertook  to  bring  up  the  chil- 
dren.   The  older  Shaker  societies  by  1826  numbered  5000  souls. 


Shaker  Dance,  about  1830.     (From  a  contemporary  print.) 

The  most  remarkable  communal  society  was  the  Mormon 
Church,  founded  by  Joseph  Smith  of  Palmyra,  New  York,  in 
1829.  In  1830  he  published  what  he  called  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, which  he  alleged  to  be  a  miraculously  preserved  account 
of  the  settlement  of  America  by  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel. 
He  and  his  followers  built  a  temple  at  Kirtland,  Ohio ;  in  1837 
moved  to  Missouri ;  and  soon  after  to  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  where 
they  built  up  a  city  of  ten  thousand  adherents.  The  neighbor- 
hood disliked  the  Mormons,  and  Smith  was  killed  by  a  mob  in 
1844.     Two  years  later  most  of  the  Mormons  moved  to  Utah. 

A  memorable  example  of  the  new  community  spirit  was  a 
little  gathering  of  men  and  women  at  Brook  Farm  in  Massa- 
chusetts, from  1841  to  1847.     They  agreed  to  perform  the  work 


342  SECTIONALISM 

of  the  household  and  the  farm,  and  to  spend  their  leisure  hours 
in  the  training  of  their  minds.  Among  the  members  or  visitors 
of  this  group  were  James  Russell  Lowell,  Ealph  Waldo  Emer- 
son, Charles  A.  Dana,  and  Nathaniel  Hawthorne.  The  commu- 
nity dissolved,  for  it  could  not  support  itself  by  such  labor ; 
but  its  intellectual  stimulus  was  felt  in  the  whole  country. 

Until  about  1830  most  of  the  American  essays,  poems,  novels, 
and    criticisms    were    simply  imitations    of    English  writers. 
289.  Ameri-  Even  Washington  Irving  was  intellectually  an  English- 
can  litera-     man  of  the  school  of  Addison  and  Goldsmith,  but  he 
found  American  subjects,  and   his  Knickerbocker's  His- 
tory of  New  York  (published  1809)  is  one  of  the  most  delight- 
ful of  American  satires.     Of  novelists  the  only  widely  known 

American  at  that  time  was  James 
Fenimore  Cooper,  who  began  in 
1821  to  publish  his  entrancing 
novels  of  Indian  life  and  char- 
acter. In  1833  Edgar  Allan  Poe 
began  his  wonderful  tales.  Wil- 
liam Cullen  Byrant  in  1811,  when 
seventeen  years  old,  touched  the 
height  of  his  genius  in  his  poem 
of  Thanatopsis.  Other  great 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  writers,  such  as  Hawthorne  and 

Lowell,  though  they  began  to 
publish  at  this  time,  reached  their  zenith  later.  A  school  of 
American  historians  arose  with  the  bold  undertaking  of  George 
Bancroft  to  write  the  history  of  America  from  the  beginnings, 
of  which  the  first  volumes  came  out  in  1834 ;  and  a  little  later 
(1837)  appeared  William  H.  Prescott's  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 
Another  important  book  was  the  first  edition  of  Noah  Webster's 
American  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language,  published  in  1828. 
Educated  Americans  were  great  readers  of  the  English 
quarterly  reviews;   and  in  1815  was   established   the  North 


SOCIAL   AND   SECTIONAL   CONDITIONS    (1831-1841)     343 

American  Review,  for  many  years  an  intellectual  force.  News- 
papers began  to  improve,  and  between  1833  and  1841  were 
founded  the  New  York  Daily  Sun,  the  first  one-cent  newspaper ; 
the  New  York  Herald,  which  set  a  standard  of  the  search  for 
news ;  and  Horace  Greeley's  New  York  Tribune,  an  example  of 
breezy  personal  journalism.  They  were  reenforced  in  1849  by 
the  Associated  Press,  which  furnished  information  to  a  great 
number  of  papers. 

The  era  of  social  reform  extended  very  slowly  to  the 
South,  which  was  not  willing  to  harbor  new  ideas  that  might 
upset  its  rigid  class  system.  The  3,700,000  whites  of  290.  South- 
the  South  in  1830  were  divided  into  three  social  strata.  ern  society 
(1)  At  the  summit  stood  from  25,000  to  30,000  members 
of  the  families  of  large  slaveholders ;  in  a  few  cases  one  mas- 
ter owned  as  many  as  a  thousand  slaves.  These  people  were 
the  social  and  political  aristocracy ;  they  furnished  the  gov- 
ernors, the  judges,  the  representatives  in  Congress,  and  the 
senators.  (2)  About  630,000  people  belonged  to  families  each 
holding  from  one  to  four  slaves  :  together  with  perhaps  500,000 
prosperous  nonslaveholding  white  farmers,  they  made  up  the 
ordinary  community.  (3)  The  poor  whites,  numbering  about 
2,500,000,  had  neither  slaves  nor  property,  except  rough  land 
and  miserable  buildings,  and  except  in  some  mountain  com- 
munities never  dreamed  of  using  their  votes  against  the  slave- 
holding  aristocracy. 

Below  all  the  whites  were  180,000  free  negroes,  a  despised 
and  unhappy  class,  without  political  rights,  held  responsible 
for  most  of  the  petty  crimes,  and  not  allowed  to  move     291.  Slave 
about  freely.     At  the  bottom  of  society  were  2,000,000  life 

African  slaves,  the  people  from  whose  physical  toil  came  most 
of  the  wealth  and  consequence  of  their  masters. 

On  the  conditions  of  slave  life  there  is  an  immense  mass  of 
conflicting  testimony.  Fanny  Kemble,  English  wife  of  a 
Georgia  planter,  complained  of  sick  slave  women  in  hospital 


344 


SECTIONALISM 


"  prostrate  on  the  earth,  without  bedstead,  bed  mattress  or  pil- 
low."    She  saw  her  husband's  slaves,  including  sick  women, 

Kemble,         going  to  the  field  in  Sangs>  each  with  a  slave  driver 
Journal,        armed  with  a  whip. 
102,  316  Ci  £     ,, 

She  saw  a  perfectly 

faithful  slave  given  over 
to  a  new  master  who,  in  a 
few  hours,  was  to  carry 
him  away  forever  from 
his  father,  mother,  and 
wife.  At  the  other  ex- 
treme is  the  picture  of 
slavery  in  Virginia  drawn 
by  Pollard  —  the  white 
and  the  black  boys  grow- 
ing up  together,  friends 
and  playmates;  the  mas- 
ter listening  to  the  com- 
plaints of  his  slaves  ;  and  Fanny  Kemble,  about  1830. 
the  white  mistress,  sweet  and  stately,  counseling  the  young  and 
Pollard,  protecting  the  aged.  "  I  love  the  simple  and  unadulterated 
Black  Dia-  slave,  with  his  geniality,  his  mirth,  his  swagger,  and  his 
nonsense ;  I  love  to  look  upon  his  countenance,  shining 
with  content  and  grease;  I  love  to  study  his  affectionate  heart." 
These  views  conflict,  but  are  not  contradictory,  for  there 
were  many  gradations  of  slavery.  On  some  plantations  the 
slaves  were  felt  to  be  members  of  the  family ;  on  other  plan- 
tations the  life  of  the  slaves  was  a  round  of  dull  misery, 
interspersed  with  thoughtless  gayety.  The  house  slaves  were 
well  fed,  had  light  tasks,  and  were  often  petted  by  their 
masters;  the  field  slaves  were  often  overworked  and  abused. 
The  right  to  own  a  slave  included  the  absolute  right  to  sell 
him,  and  there  was  no  legal  obligation  to  sell  families  as  a 
whole;    hence,   heartbreaking    scenes    of    separation    at   the 


monds 


SOCIAL  AND   SECTIONAL  CONDITIONS    (1831-1841)     345 

auction  block;  yet  the  next  day  the  slave,  torn  from  his 
family,  might  be  cheerfully  fiddling  on  his  way  to  the 
dreaded  far  South. 

About  1800  the  value  of  slave  labor  was  small,  but  by  1830 
cotton  made  it  profitable.     The  prices  of  slaves  rose,  and  bor- 
der states  like  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky  found    292   Ar 
ready  sale  for  their  surplus  slaves  in  the  cotton  states.       ments  for 
Hence,  from  the  earlier  idea  that  slavery  was  an  evil  to 
be  got  rid  of,  the  southern  people  came  to  believe  that  it  was 
an  evil  which  could  not  be  shaken  off;   then,  that  it  was  a 
good  thing  which  ought  to  be  extended ;  and  gradually  a  line 
of  justification  of  slavery  was  worked  out,  which  may  be  ana- 
lyzed as  follows :  — 

(1)  That  the  negro  was  physically  and  mentally  inferior  to 
the  white  man,  so  that  the  theory  of  the  equality  of  mankind 
did  not  apply ;  and  that  the  only  way  to  keep  southern  society 
together  was  to  hold  the  negro  a  slave  under  such  incitements 
as  seemed  necessary  to  keep  him  at  work. 

(2)  That  the  slave  was  happiest  and  best  off  when  somebody 
else  fed  him,  clothed  him,  and  cared  for  him  in  old  age. 

(3)  That  the  good  of  the  whites  required  slavery,  for  it 
would  be  impossible  to  clear  the  land  without  forced  labor; 
and  slavery  gave  to  the  white  race  a  sense  of  responsibility 
and  mastery. 

(4)  That    the    Scriptures   authorized   slavery:    Noah   said, 
"Cursed  be  Canaan;  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  Genesis 
unto  his  brethren ;  "    Abraham  held  slaves  bought  with  **•  25 
money ;  St.  Paul  sent  a  fugitive  slave,  Onesimus,  home  to  his 
master ;  Christ  "  taught  many  slaves,  but  never  attempted  to 

free  any  slaves." 

(5)  That  slavery  was  necessary  for  democratic  government, 
because  it  set  the  master  free  to  attend  to  his  political  duties. 
As  Calhoun  put  it,  "  Slavery  forms  the  most  solid  and  dura- 
ble foundation  on  which  to  erect  free  institutions." 


346  SECTIONALISM 

Some  of  the  most  frequent  objections  to  slavery  were  as 
follows :  — 
293.  Anti-  0-)  That  the  effect  on  the  whites  was  to  cultivate  a 

slavery  fierce  and  passionate  temper:    no  man  could  be  safely- 

trusted  with  such  power  of  life  and  death,  and  of  torture 
hardly  less  than  death. 

(2)  That  slavery  was  a  denial  to  the  negro  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  assert  the  manhood  that  was  in  him :  southern  laws, 
forbidding  people  to  teach  negroes  to  read  and  write,  were  a 
standing  proof  that  their  minds  were  so  far  as  possible  kept 
debased  and  ignorant. 

(3)  That  the  oft-reported  horrors  of  the  system  were  proofs 
of  its  natural  tendency  to  cruelty.  For  example,  the  breaking 
up  of  families  by  sale  was  an  inseparable  part  of  the  system, 
so  that  true  marriage  and  the  care  of  a  family  were  impos- 
sible. 

(4)  That  slavery  had  many  economic  disadvantages :  it  was 
expensive ;  it  was  wasteful ;  it  used  up  the  land ;  it  could  not 
be  applied  to  any  kind  of  machinery ;  it  was  not  advanta- 
geous even  to  the  masters,  as  was  shown  by  the  poverty  of  the 
South. 

(5)  That  slavery  was  contrary  to  humanity,  to  the  princi- 
ples of  Christianity  and  the  practice  of  the  church  throughout 
the  ages,  and  also  to  the  whole  theory  of  natural  rights  and 
democratic  government.  As  Lincoln  put  it,  "No  man  is  good 
enough  to  govern  another  without  the  other's  consent." 

(6)  That  the  alleged  content  and  well-being  of  the  slave  did 
not  lessen  his  inborn  desire  for  freedom,  as  was  shown  by  the 
runaway  negro,  who  admitted  that  he  had  been  well  fed, 
well  clothed,  kindly  treated,  and  trusted  by  his  master.  When 
he  was  asked  why  on  earth  he  ran  away,  he  replied  quietly, 
"  The  situation  am  vacant ! "  It  was  a  fair  question  why,  if 
slavery  was  such  a  good  thing,  no  free  men,  white  or  black, 
wanted  to  accept  it. 


SOCIAL  AND   SECTIONAL   CONDITIONS    (1831-1841)      347 

Various  causes  combined  to  bring  the  question  of  slavery  to 
public  attention  about  1830  :  — 

(1)  The  discontent  of  the  slaves,  as  shown  by  three  294  The 
risings  :  the  Gabriel  insurrection  in  Virginia  in  1800 ;  a  rise  of  tlle 
plan  to  destroy  Charleston,  formed  in  1820  by  Denmark  ists 
Vesey,  a  free  negro;  a  bloody  insurrection  in  South-  (1830-1840) 
ampton,  Virginia  (1831),  under  Nat  Turner,  a  slave. 

(2)  The  disposition  of  the  South  to  enlarge  the  boundaries 
and  the  influence  of  slavery,  and  the  consequent  appearance 
of  men  like  John  Quincy  Adams,  who  worked  to  prevent  the 
extension  of  slavery. 

(3)  The  question  of  the  relative  strength  of  the  free  and 
slaveholding  sections  of  the  country  in  the  Senate,  as  affected 
by  the  admission  of  new  states. 

(4)  The  spread  of  humanitarian  reform  through  societies, 
which  at  last  reached  the  slavery  question.  Though  the  south- 
ern abolition  movement  suddenly  collapsed  about  the  year 
1830,  within  ten  years  one  thousand  northern  abolition  socie- 
ties were  formed  with  about  forty  thousand  members;  and 
they  demanded  the  immediate  and  absolute  emancipation  of 
all  the  slaves. 

Two  kinds  of  people,  often  not  clearly  distinguished,  took 
ground  against  slavery :  the  antislavery  men,  who  wished  at 
least  to  prevent  its  extension;  and  the  abolitionists,  who 
wanted  to  destroy  it  where  it  already  existed.  Among  the 
abolitionists  there  were  three  groups :  western,  middle  state, 
and  New  England:  (1)  The  western  abolition  societies  were 
started  chiefly  by  former  slaveholders,  who  crossed  the  Ohio 
River  to  get  away  from  the  system.  Such  were  Rev.  John 
Rankin  and  James  G.  Birney.  (2)  The  middle  state  abolition- 
ists were  strong  in  Philadelphia,  New  York  city,  and  central 
New  York,  and  included  men  like  Arthur  and  Louis  Tappan 
and  Gerrit  Smith,  who  had  money  and  freely  gave  it  for 
the  cause.     (3)  The  New  England  group  included  Wendell 


348  SECTIONALISM 

Phillips,  the  abolition  orator;  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  the 
abolition  poet;  Theodore  Parker,  the  abolition  parson;  and 
later  James  Russell  Lowell,  the  abolition  satirist. 

Among  the  hundreds  of  northern  agitators,  William  Lloyd 

Garrison,  by  his  intense  devotion  to  the  cause,  has  somehow 

295    Wil-     come  to  be  accepted  as  the  typical  abolitionist,  although 

liam  Lloyd     ne  differed  with  everybody  else,  and  always  represented 
G  ft  1*1*1  s  on 

the  extreme  *ne  extremest  principles.  Garrison  was  born  at  New- 
abolitionist  buryport,  Massachusetts  (1805),  became  a  printer,  and 
wandered  about  the  country.  In  1830  he  went  to  jail  in 
Baltimore  for  too  freely  criticising  a  slave  trader.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1831,  Garrison  founded  in  Boston  a  little  paper  which 
he  called  the  Liberator,  and  which  speedily  became  one  of 
the  best-known  and  worst-hated  papers  in  the  country.  From 
the  platform  of  principles  which  he  published  in  the  first 
number,  he  never  swerved  throughout  his  life.  He  "  deter- 
mined, at  every  hazard,  to  lift  up  the  standard  of  emancipation 
in  the  eyes  of  the  nation." 

Garrison  was  a  one-sided  and  prejudiced  man,  who  never 
could  see  that  the  slaveholder  was  anything  but  a  robber  and 
murderer  ;  but  he  compelled  people  to  listen  to  him,  even  when 
he  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  federal  govern- 
ment, because  it  protected  slavery  ;  and  he  publicly  burned  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  calling  it  —  in  scriptural 
language  —  "a  covenant  with  death  and  an  agreement  with 
hell." 

The  abolitionists  had  a  very  effective  method  of  agitation. 

Local  societies  were  federated  in  a  state  society,  which  held 

296.  The       an  annual  meeting;  and  into  an  annual  national  conven- 

abohtion       ^-  Meetings  and  local  conventions  were   held  from 

movement  & 

(1830-1840)  time  to  time  to  arouse  public  sentiment,  and  women  and 

negroes  sat  on  the  stage  and  took  part  in  the  exercises.     The 

societies  prepared   petitions   to  the  state  legislatures,  and  to 

Congress,  and  did  everything  they  could  to  interest    people 


SOCIAL  AND  SECTIONAL  CONDITIONS   (1831-1841)      349 

and  to  make  them  abolitionists.  Newspapers  were  founded, 
tracts,  books,  and  almanacs  were  prepared,  and  freely  illus- 
trated with  pictures  of  the  horrors  of  slavery ;  and  one  college, 
Oberlin,  admitted  negro  students  and  became  the  western 
center  of  the  abolition  sentiment. 

Meetings,  societies,  and  publications  all  caused  an  astonish- 
ing uproar.  In  the  South,  practically  nobody  was  allowed  to 
advocate  abolition;  in  the  North  the  sensitive  population 
expressed  its  horror  of  the  abolitionists  by  riots.  In  1835  an 
antislavery  meeting  in  Boston  was  broken  up  by  a  mob,  which 
laid  hold  of  Garrison,  tied  a  rope  about  his  body,  dragged  him 
through  the  streets,  and  tried  to  kill  him.  In  1837  another 
persistent  agitator  and  editor,  Elijah  Lovejoy,  was  murdered 
by  a  mob  in  Alton,  Illinois,  because  he  persisted  in  publishing 
an  antislavery  paper  even  in  a  free  state.  Colored  schools  were 
broken  up,  and  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia  colored  settle- 
ments were  attacked.  Nobody  was  more  hated  and  despised 
than  the  abolitionist. 

The  abolition  societies  adopted  the  practice  of  sending  peti- 
tions asking  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  in  1835  William  Slade  of  Vermont  made  the  297.  Slav- 
first  abolition  speech  in  Congress.  This  led  to  a  series  of  eicongress 
so-called  gag  resolutions  (1836-1844)  by  which  the  House  (1835-1844) 
forbade  any  debate  on  antislavery  petitions.  The  attempt 
to  stop  discussion  aroused  John  Quincy  Adams,  who  be- 
lieved that  his  constituents  and  their  representatives  on  the 
floors  of  Congress,  had  the  right  to  argue  in  the  public  press 
on  any  subject.  In  1837,  and  again  in  1842,  attempts  were 
made  to  pass  a  vote  of  censure  on  him  in  the  House;  but 
Adams  warned  Congress  that  if  they  attempted  to  stop  petitions 
by  censuring  the  member  who  presented  them,  "  they  would 
have  the  people  coming  besieging,  not  beseeching."  The  first 
western  abolitionist  member  of  Congress,  Joshua  R.  Giddings 
of  Ohio,  appeared  in  1838,  and  he  made  it  the  main  purpose 


350 


SECTIONALISM 


of  his  life  to  bring  about  slavery  debates  on  all  sorts  of  side 
questions,  in  spite  of  an  attempt  (1842)  to  close  his  lips  by  a 
vote  of  censure. 


Broadway,  New  York,  in  1830.     (From  a  contemporary  print.) 


Side   by  side   with  the  political  development  of  Jackson's 

administration  went  a  great  movement  of  humanitarian  and 

298.  Sum-     religious  reform.      People  at  last  had  grown  sympathetic 

mary  wifcn  tlie  poor^  ^  jgnorantj  tne  defective,  the  criminal, 

and  the  slave;  they  were  trying  all  kinds  of  experiments;  and 

they  invented  new  sorts  of   societies  and  "causes." 

The  most  important  of  the  humanitarian  movements  was 
that  of  the  abolitionists;  and  it  was  fiercely  sectional,  be- 
cause the  northern  states  were  just  getting  rid  of  the  last 
vestiges  of  slavery,  and  the  South  was  on  the  whole  well  con- 
tented to  have  slavery.  Since  the  agitators  were  all  north  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and  the  thing  to  be  reformed  was  all 
south  of  it,  the  Southerners  looked  on  abolition  as  a  wicked 
method  of  making  them  trouble.     The  abolitionists  took  the 


SOCIAL  AND   SECTIONAL   CONDITIONS    (1831-1841)     351 

ground  that  slavery  was  a  national  evil,  so  long  as  the  federal 
government  recognized  it  and  protected  it ;  and  therefore  that 
it  was  a  concern  of  the  northern  people  as  well  as  of  the 
southern.  Then  they  discovered  that  the  place  to  preach  the 
evils  of  slavery  was  in  Congress.  There  was  no  stopping 
them,  without  giving  up  the  right  of  free  discussion ;  but  from 
the  time  the  abolitionists  were  fairly  at  work,  the  North  and 
the  South  were  estranged. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Why  should  not  people  be  imprisoned  for  debt  ?  (2)  Why  Suggestive 
should  libraries  be  established  out  of  public  funds  ?  (3)  Influence  of  pi 
Brook  Farm.  (4)  Washington  Irving  as  a  literary  man.  (5)  James 
Fenimore  Cooper  as  a  literary  man.  (6)  Edgar  Allan  Poe  as  a 
literary  man.  (7)  Why  did  the  poor  whites  vote  with  the  great 
slaveholders  ?  (8)  Why  did  abolitionists  cease  agitation  in  the 
South  about  1830  ?  (9)  Why  did  the  attacks  on  the  abolitionists 
swell  their  numbers  ? 

(10)  John  Quincy  Adams's  objections  to  slavery.  (11)  Public 
services  of  Dorothea  Dix.  (12)  Origin  of  normal  schools  in 
America.  (13)  Education  at  West  Point.  (14)  The  lyceum  system. 
(15)  Split  in  the  Methodist  Church  in  1844.  (16)  Movement  for 
foreign  missions.  (17)  Washingtonian  societies.  (18)  Joseph 
Smith's  character.  (19)  Life  in  a  wealthy  slaveholding  house- 
hold. (20)  Bright  side  of  slavery.  (21)  Dark  side  of  slavery. 
(22)  Scriptural  argument  in  favor  of  slavery.  (23)  Argument  that 
slavery  was  good  for  the  negro.  (24)  Stories  told  by  fugitive 
slaves.     (25)  Prosecution  for  teaching  negroes  to  read. 

REFERENCES 

Hart,  Slavery  and  Abolition.  Geography 

Wilson,  Division  and  Beunion,  §§  53-57,  60-66  ;  Hart,  Slavery  Secondary 
and  Abolition  ;  Sparks,  Expansion,  290-290,  376-418  ;  Rhodes,  authorities 
United  States,  I.  40-75,  303-383  ;  Schouler,  United  States,  III. 
507-531,  IV.  1-31,  199-229;  McMaster,  United  States,  IV".  522- 
569,  V.  82-108,  184-226,  284-372  ;  Adams,  United  States,  IX.  175- 
187,  198-242  ;  Earned,  History  for  Ready  Reference,  IV.  2927, 
2935,  2943,  V.  3369,  3373,  3375  ;  Page,  Old  South,  57-92,  143-185  ; 
Brown,  Lower  South,  16-49;  Smith,  Liberty  and  Free- soil  Parties, 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 21 


Search 
topics 


352 


SECTIONALISM 


1-47  ;  Wendell,  Literary  History  of  America,  157-435;  Morse,  J. 
Q.  Adams,  242-308  ;  Hoist,  J.  C.  Calhoun,  121-199 ;  Roosevelt,  T. 
H.  Benton,  140-151 ;  Hart,  S.  P.  Chase,  28-91  ;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay, 
II.  71-87,  153-171 ;  Chesnutt,  Frederick  Douglass,  1-74,  107-118  ; 
Birney,  James  G.  Birney ;  Sanborn,  B.  W.  Emerson ;  Burton, 
J.  G.  Whittier.  See  also  references  to  chapter  xiv. 
Sources  Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  94-101,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  151- 

157,  169-184,  —  Source  Readers,  III.  §§  12,  13,  26,  28,  105-115, 
IV.  §§  1-11;  MacDonald,  Select  Documents,  no.  69;  American 
History  Leaflets,  no.  10;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  78,  79,  81,  109; 
Caldwell,  Survey,  148-156 ;  Johnston,  American  Orations,  II.  102- 
122 ;  Douglass,  Life  and  Times  ;  May,  Antislavery  Conflict ;  Olm- 
sted, Seaboard  Slave  States ;  Quincy,  Figures  of  the  Past ;  Smedes, 
Southern  Planter,  17-189.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n, 
Syllabus,  348,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  85. 

Illustrative  Longfellow,  Poems  on  Slavery ;    Whittier,    Antislavery  Poems, 

works 

9-94,  —  Snow  Bound  ;  Lowell,  Wendell  Phillips,  —  W.  L.  Garrison, 

—  On  the  Capture  of  Fugitive  Slaves  near  Washington  ;  Morgan 
Bates,  Martin  Brook  (abolition)  ;  H.  P.  Belt,  Mirage  of  Promise 
(abolition)  ;  Holmes,  Elsie  Venner  (N.E.)  ;  Lucy  Larcom,  New 
England  Girlhood)  E.  E.  Hale,  New  England  Boyhood;  Haw- 
thorne, Blithedale  Bomance ;  T.  B.  Aldrich,  Story  of  a  Bad  Boy 
(N.E.)  ;  D.  G.  Mitchell,  Doctor  Johns  (Conn.);  Lily  Dougall, 
Mormon  Prophet;  A.  W.  Tourge"e,  Button's  Inn  (Mormons) ; 
M.  S.  Tiernan,  Suzette  (Va.)  ;  A.  B.  Longstreet,  Georgia  Scenes  ; 
R.  M.  Johnston,  Old  Times  in  Middle  Georgia  ;  J.  C.  Harris,  Uncle 
Bemus ;  H.  B.  Stowe,  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin ;  Edward  Eggleston, 
Hoosier  Schoolmaster,  —  The  Gray  sons  (West)  ;  Joseph  Kirkland, 
Zury,  —  The  McVeys  (West). 
Pictures  Sparks,  Expansion  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  IV. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
RENEWED  EXPANSION  (1841-1847) 

The  abolition  controversy  did  not  yet  disturb  the  course  of 
party  politics.     In  the  campaign  of  1840  the  Democrats  nomi- 
nated Van  Buren  for  a  second  term.     The  an ti- Jackson        299.  The 
men,  who  had  now  formally  taken  the  name  of  the  Whig  lgTyler 

party,  nominated  William  Henry  Harrison  of  Ohio  for  (1840-1842) 
President,  and  John  Tyler  of  Virginia,  a  discontented  Demo- 
crat, for  Vice  President.     The  Whigs  expected  to  reestablish 
the  national  bank,  appropriate  money  for  internal  improve- 
ments, and,  if  possible,  revive  a  protective  tariff. 

It  was  a  boisterous  campaign,  full  of  great  mass  meetings. 
Somebody  said  that  Harrison  was  fit  only  to  sit  in  his  log 
cabin  and  drink  hard  cider ;  the  Whigs  took  up  the  slur ;  and 
log  cabins  on  wheels,  amply  provided  with  barrels  of  hard 
cider,  were  used  as  a  popular  argument  to  voters.  The  Demo- 
crats were  really  beaten  by  the  panic  of  1837,  for  hard  times 
still  continued.  Harrison  was  chosen  by  234  electoral  votes 
to  60  for  Van  Buren,  on  a  popular  majority  of  about  140,000; 
and  the  Whigs  secured  both  houses  of  the  next  Congress. 

A  month  after  his  inauguration  Harrison  died,  and  John 
Tyler  succeeded  to  the  presidency.  Though  elected  by  the 
Whigs  he  did  not  accept  their  principles,  and  vetoed  (August 
and  September,  1841)  two  successive  bills  intended  to  restore 
the  main  features  of  the  old  United  States  Bank ;  where- 
upon every  member  of  his  Cabinet,  except  Webster,  resigned. 
Tyler  also  came  into  collision  with  the  party  Whigs  over 
the  tariff.  Though  the  Compromise  of  1833  was  to  have 
taken  full  effect  in  ,1842,  they  were  determined  to  substitute 

353 


354 


SECTIONALISM 


a  high  protective  measure.  Tyler  vetoed  two  bills,  but  finally 
signed  the  tariff  of  1842,  which  went  back  substantially  to 
the  scale  of  the  tariff  of  1832,  raised  the  average  duties  from 
about  24  per  cent  to  35  per  cent,  and  completely  upset  the 
Compromise  of  1833.  Throughout  the  remainder  of  his  ad- 
ministration Tyler  quarreled  with  Congress. 

About  this  time  the  progress  of  popular  government  led  to 

two  serious  disturbances  in  the  states.     The  holders  of  land 

300.  Dis-       in  the  old  Dutch  patroonates  in  New  York  paid  to  the 

in  the  states   descendants  of  the  patroons  an  annual  ground  rent,  or 

(1839-1844)  "quitrent,"  of  from  $7  to  $18  a  year  for  each  hundred 

acres.     In  1839  these  tenants  began   to   refuse  payment,  to 

hold  "Anti-Rent"  meetings,  to  parade  the  country  in  masks 

and  disguises,  and  to  attack  and  kill  sheriffs  and  rent  payers. 

After  several  years  of  agitation  the  landlords  agreed  to  accept 

lump  money  payments  from  the  former  tenants. 


A  Contemporary  Cartoon  of  the  Dorr  Rebellion,  1812. 

A  more  alarming  popular  movement  arose  in  Rhode  Island 
because  no  one  could  vote  there  except  a  "freeman,"  —  that  is, 
a  man  holding  real  estate  worth   $134,  .or  renting  for  $7  a 


RENEWED   EXPANSION    (1841-1847) 


355 


year,  —  or  the  eldest  son  of  such  a  man.  A  "People's  Party," 
including  both  freemen  and  non-voters,  held  a  convention  in 
1841  to  adopt  a  more  liberal  state  constitution,  took  a  popular 
vote  on  it,  declared  it  adopted,  and  elected  Thomas  W.  Dorr  as 
governor.  Dorr  attempted  by  force  to  take  possession  of  the 
state  property  (1842),   but   his  men  would  not  stand.     The 

governor  under  the  old 
charter  vainly  called  on 
President  Tyler  to  send 
United  States  troops  to 
help  him;  but  Dorr  was 
tried  for  treason  and  sen- 
tenced to  imprisonment. 
Practically  he  accom- 
plished his  work,  for  the 
suffrage  was  at  once  en- 
larged by  the  regular  gov- 
ernment. 

Other  sorts  of  land  ques- 
tions and  territorial  ques- 
tions made  the  years  301.  North- 
1841  to  1845  mo-  hoViJ™j 
mentous.  One  of  (1783-1842) 
them  was  a  renewed  con- 
troversy with  Great 
Northeast  Boundary  Controversy.  Britain  over  the  Maine 
boundary.  By  the  treaty  of  1783  the  line  was  to  run  "  from 
the  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  viz.  that  angle  which  is 
formed  by  a  line  drawn  due  north  from  the  source  of  Saint 
Croix  River  to  the  Highlands ;  along  the  said  Highlands 
which  divide  those  rivers  that  empty  themselves  into  the 
river  St.  Lawrence,  from  those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  to  the  north  westernmost  head  of  Connecticut  River." 
It  was  soon  found  that  the  two  governments  did  not  agree  as  to 


356  SECTIONALISM 

what  stream  was  the  St.  Croix,  nor  where  to  locate  the  north- 
west angle,  nor  where  the  Highlands  were,  nor  even  what  was 
meant  by  "  Atlantic  Ocean." 

In  1821  the  line  was  run  from  the  Atlantic  to  a  point 
called  Mars  Hill ;  the  British  insisted  that  the  "  Highlands  " 
lay  there,  and  the  Americans  insisted  that  they  were  beyond 
the  St.  John  River.  After  a  vain  attempt  at  arbitration 
(1827-1831),  the  state  of  Maine  in  the  "  Aroostook  War " 
(1838)  attempted  to  seize  part  of  the  disputed  territory. 
Webster  remained  in  Tyler's  Cabinet  long  enough  to  settle 
this  question:  in  1842  he  negotiated  the  Webster-Ashburtou 
treaty,  by  which  the  disputed  territory  was  divided,  and  each 
party  got  about  half.  The  settlement  was  creditable  and  satis- 
factory to  both  sides,  and  ended  a  controversy  which  threatened 
to  bring  on  war. 

Until  about  1820,  the  interior  of  North  America  was  still 
little  known ;  but  in  that  year  Major  Long  explored  part  of 
the  Rocky  Mountain  chain,  and  from  that  time  trade  developed 
on  what  was  called  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  a  road  leading  south- 
westward  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Rio  Grande  (p.  324). 
In  1832  Bonneville's  party  went  as  far  west  as  Great  Salt 
Lake,  crossing  the  Rockies  with  a  wagon  train,  and  some  of 
them  reached  the  Pacific. 

Farther  north  the  American  Fur  Trading  Company  in  the 
twenties  opened  up  a  route  to  Oregon ;  and  in  1834  Nathaniel 
302  Ex-        J*  Wyeth  of  Massachusetts  guided  a  party  of  settlers  to 
plorations      Fort  Hall,  north   of   Great   Salt   Lake,  and   thence   to 
ri0r  Oregon.      In  1836  Dr.  Marcus  WThitman  and  other  mis- 

(1820-1845)  sionaries  to  the  northern  Indians  went  out  along  this 
route.  In  the  winter  of  1842-1843  Dr.  Whitman  came  east 
from  Oregon  by  a  dangerous,  roundabout  route,  partly  on  busi- 
ness of  the  mission,  partly  because  he  supposed  that  Webster 
was  willing  to  give  up  all  claims  to  Oregon.  There  was  no 
such  danger ;  the  country  was  awake  to  the  importance  of  a 


RENEWED   EXPANSION    (1841-1847)  357 

Pacific  outlet ;  and  there  is  no  contemporary  evidence  to  show 
that  Whitman  saw  Webster  or  influenced  the  President.  In 
1843  he  joined  an  expedition  formed  by  other  people  and  with 
it  returned  to  Oregon. 

A  young  army  officer  named  John  C.  Fremont,  aided  by  good 
guides,  in  the  forties  made  three  long  explorations  westward. 
In  the  first  (1842)  he  went  up  the  Platte  River  to  its  head 
waters,  and  crossed  over  the  Rocky  Mountain  divide  by  the 
South  Pass  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Colorado.  In  1843  he 
went  through  the  mountains  via  Great  Salt  Lake  to  Oregon, 
and  then  across  the  Sierra  Nevada  to  California.  In  1845 
he  was  sent  off  with  an  armed  party  and  again  reached 
California.  He  was  a  poor  explorer,  and  made  no  proper 
surveys ;  but  he  was  a  son-in-law  of  Senator  Benton  of  Mis- 
souri, young,  dashing,  and  good-looking,  and  got  the  name  of 
"  Pathfinder  "  for  his  exploits. 

One  of  Tyler's  lines  of  policy  was  to  annex  Texas ;  and  he 
made   John  C.  Calhoun  Secretary  of  State  for  that  express 
purpose.      Calhoun   negotiated  a   treaty  of   annexation     303.  Ques- 
( April  12,  1844),  which  was  rejected  in  the  Senate  by  a  ^exas 

vote  of  35  to  16  ;  and  the  scheme  went  over.     The  argu-  (1844) 

ments  in  favor  of  annexation  were :  (1)  that  the  Texans  were 
simply  Americans  across  the  border;  (2)  that  Texas  was  a 
rich  and  fertile  country  which  would  add  wealth  to  the  Union ; 
(3)  that  annexation  was  a  natural  form  of  expansion ;  (4)  that 
it  was  simply  a  "  reannexation  "  of  territory  rightly  a  part 
of  the  Union  from  1803  to  1819 ;  (5)  that  it  would  retain  for 
the  slaveholders  a  needed  control  of  the  Senate. 

Both  the  antislavery  people  and  the  abolitionists  violently 
opposed  annexation :  (1)  because  it  would  bring  into  the  Union 
more  territory  to  be  a  field  of  slavery ;  (2)  because  it  would 
give  to  the  slaveholding  influence  perpetual  control  of  the 
national  government ;  (3)  because  it  would  probably  bring  on 
war  with  Mexico. 


358  SECTIONALISM 

The  question  of  Texas  came  up  again  in  the  campaign  of 

1844.     The  natural  candidates  were  Clay  and  Van  Buren,  both 

304.  An-       of  whom  publicly  declaimed  against  annexation.     Clay 

Texas10n  °     was    unanimously   nominated   by   the  Whigs.      In   the 

(1844-1845)  Democratic  convention  Van  Buren  had  at  first  a  majority 

of  the  delegates,  but  was  deprived  of  his  nomination  by  the 

unexpected  readoption  of  the  two-thirds  rule;  and  James  K. 

Polk  of  Tennessee  was  nominated  because  he  was  known  to 

favor  annexation.     The  Democratic  platform  declared  for  "  the 

reoccupation  of  Oregon  and  the  reannexation  of  Texas  at  the 

mies  earliest  practicable  period."     Clay  then  felt  compelled 

Register,        to  change  his  ground  by  saying  that  he  would  be  glad 

to  see  Texas  annexed,  "  without  dishonor,  without  war, 

with  the  common  consent  of  the  Union,  and  upon  just  and 

fair  terms." 

The  Liberty  or  Abolition  party  nominated  James  G.  Birney, 
but  in  the  election  of  1844  got  only  62,000  popular  votes 
against  1,299,000  for  Clay  and  1,337,000  for  Polk;  yet  it 
decided  the  national  election  by  deliberately  drawing  off 
enough  Clay  votes  in  New  York  to  throw  that  close  state 
for  Polk,  whose  electoral  vote  was  170  to  105  for  Clay.  The 
Liberty  men  hoped  thus  to  compel  the  Whigs  to  take  anti- 
slavery  ground. 

Congress  and  President  Tyler  did  not  wait  for  the  new 
administration :  since  annexation  seemed  to  have  the  approval 
of  the  majority  of  the  people,  a  joint  resolution  passed  the 
House  by  a  vote  of  120  to  98,  and  the  Senate  by  27  to  25 
(March  1,  1845),  permitting  the  admission  of  Texas  as  a  state 
on  very  favorable  terms.  No  territory  had  ever  before  been 
annexed  by  this  method;  but  Texas  accepted  and  came  into 
the  Union  as  a  full-fledged  state  in  December,  1845.  Under 
the  terms  of  the  joint  resolution,  she  retained  all  her  public 
lands,  and  might  later,  with  her  own  consent,  be  subdivided 
into  five  states,  all  presumably  slave  states,  except  that  slavery 


RENEWED   EXPANSION    (1841-1847)  359 

was  to  be  prohibited  in  the  new  state  or  states  north  of  the  line 
of  36°  30'.  As  to  the  Mexican  boundary,  the  joint  resolution 
took  no  ground ;  but  President  Polk's  theory  was  that  Texas 
included  everything  that  Texas  claimed;  that  is,  all  the  terri- 
tory as  far  as  the  Rio  Grande. 

Few  Presidents  have  been  so  successful  in  carrying  out  what 
they  undertook  as  James  K.  Polk,  Tyler's  successor.     He  was 

born  in  1795,  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  North    305.  James 

'  ,  r  xl      -u-  *   K.  Polk  and 

Carolina,  was  fourteen  years  a  member  ot  the  House  ot       his  policy 

Representatives  (four  years  Speaker),  and  then  for  one  (1845-1849) 

term  governor  of  Tennessee.     He  had  large  public  experience, 

and  an  imperious  and  far-reaching  mind.     The  defect  of  Polk's 

character  was  his  lack  of  moral  principle  as  to  the  property 

of  our  neighbor,  Mexico.     His  diary  shows  clearly  that  his  real 

intentions  and  purposes  were  very  different  from  those  which 

he  put  forward  in  public.    From  the  first  he  meant  not  only  to 

annex  Texas,  but   to  add   to    the   Union   the   enormous  belt 

of  territory  stretching  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Pacific,  to  gain  the 

port  of  San  Francisco  for  Pacific  trade,  and  to  turn  over  the 

greater  part  of  the  new  territories  to  slavery. 

A  strong  Democratic  majority  appeared  in  both  houses  of 
Congress  in  1845-1846,  and  speedily  repealed  the  recent  Whig 
financial  legislation.      The  Independent    Treasury   sys-    306   Tariff 
tern,  which  had  been  repealed  by  the  Whigs  in  1841,  was    and  finance 
restored;  and  the  treasury  has  ever  since  remained  the 
principal  custodian  of  public  funds.     Robert  J.  Walker,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  drafted  and  presented  to  Congress  a 
measure  which  became  law  as  the  tariff  of  July  30,  1846.    The 
duties  on  luxuries  were  very  high,  reaching  100  per  cent  on 
brandy  and  spirits ;    on  ordinary  manufactures  they  were  only 
about  30  per  cent ;  the  average  on  dutiable  goods  was  about  25 
per  cent ;  and  the  annual  proceeds  in  a  few  years  were  twice 
as  great  as  those  of  the  tariff  of  1842. 

For  Polk's  designs  on  California  it  was  highly  desirable  to 


360 


SECTIONALISM 


settle  the  long-standing  controversy  with  Great  Britain  over 

Oregon,  a  name  then  applied  to  the  whole  Pacific  slope  from 

307.  The        California  to  the  Russian  possessions.      By  extinguish- 

boundary       inS  the  sPanisn  claims  (1819)  and  the  Eussian  (1824), 

(1818-1846)  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  were  left  the  sole 

competitors  for  this  fine  country.     The  claims  of  the  United 

States  rested  on:  (1)  discovery  by  Captain  Gray  (1792)  j  (2)  first 


T  I  s1^\    c  c^^MJjfTA; 

&3m 


Northwest  Boundary  Controversy. 


exploration  by  Lewis  and  Clark  (1805) ;  (3)  first  settlement  by 
Astor  (1811)  ;  (4)  first  permanent  settlement,  in  the  Willamette 
valley  (1832).  The  British  claim  was  based  chiefly  on  the 
establishment  of  posts  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  but  that 
company  persistently  kept  out  permanent  settlers. 

In  1826  Great  Britain  offered  to  divide  the  Oregon  country 
on  the  line  of  the  Columbia  and  Kootenai  rivers ;  and  between 


RENEWED   EXPANSION    (1841-1847)  361 

.1818  and  1846  the  United  States  repeatedly  offered  to  extend 
to  the  Pacific  the  49th  parallel,  which  was  already  the  boundary 
as  far  west  as  the  Rocky  Mountains;  nevertheless  a  Democratic 
campaign  cry  in  1844  was  "Fifty-four  Forty,  or  Fight";  that 
is,  a  claim  to  the  whole  coast  as  far  north  as  Russian  America. 
It  was  therefore  a  surprise  to  the  country  when  (June,  1846) 
Polk  made  a  treaty  accepting  the  compromise  line  of  the  49th 
parallel,  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  coast  of  Puget 
Sound;  and  the  northwestern  controversy  was  thus  settled 
after  fifty-four  years  of  dispute. 

The  understanding  with  Great  Britain  came  because  Presi- 
dent Polk  had  no  mind  to  fight  two  wars  at  once,  and  for  many 
reasons  he  expected  a  war  with  Mexico :  (1)  The  annexa-       308  0ut. 
tion  of  Texas  in  1845  caused  the  Mexican  government  to  bre^e°fic^ 
make  boisterous  threats,  on  the  ground  that  Texas  was  '    war 

still  Mexican  territory,  threats  that  could  easily  have  been  (1845-1846) 
settled  by  a  little  diplomacy.  (2)  Mexico  had  been  exaspera- 
tingly  slow  in  settling  claims  for  outrages  against  the  persons 
and  property  of  Americans ;  and  those  claims  were  now  hard 
pressed  by  Polk.  (3)  Mexico  absolutely  rejected  the  bound- 
ary claimed  by  the  Texan  constitution  of  1836 ;  in  fact,  this 
included  part  of  the  old  province  of  New  Mexico  and  the 
town  of  Santa  Fe,  which  was  no  more  Texan  than  St.  Louis 
(4)  Polk  was  determined  to  annex  California,  by  any  means ; 
and  he  secretly  instructed  our  consul  at  Monterey,  near  San 
Francisco,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  induce  the  native  Calif  or- 
nians  to  revolt,  just  as  the  Texans  had  done. 

Polk  was  willing  to  get  what  he  wanted  without  fighting,  and 
in  1845  he  sent  John  Slidell  to  Mexico  to  buy  California  if  pos- 
sible. The  Mexicans  would  not  even  receive  him,  and  made 
preparations  for  war.  Without  waiting  to  hear  from  Slidell, 
Polk  ordered  General  Zachary  Taylor,  who  was  stationed  at 
Corpus  Christi  on  the  Nueces  River,  to  advance  with  his  troops 
to  the  Rio  Grande,  where  he  closed  the  trade  of  the  river  with 


362 


SECTIONALISM 


his  guns.  The  inevitable  collision  came  April  24,  1846,  when 
the  Mexicans  attacked  a  body  of  American  cavalrymen  on  the 
northern  or  eastern  side  of  the  Rio  Grande. 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


0         100      200      300  400       5 

1  Col.  Kearny's  route 

2  Gen.  Taylor's      " 
Gen.  Scott's        " 


Mexican  War. 

Polk  prepared  a  message  to  Congress,  demanding  war,  on  the 
ground  that  the  claims  were  not  settled,  and  that  Slidell  had 
been  rejected.  Before  it  was  sent  in,  dispatches  from  Taylor 
announced  the  Mexican  attack,  and  in  a  special  message  of 
May  11,  1846,  Polk  did  not  scruple  to  declare  that  "War 
exists,  and,  notwithstanding  all  our  efforts  to  avoid  it,  exists 


RENEWED   EXPANSION    (1841-1847) 


363 


by  the  act  of  Mexico  herself."  Two  days  later  Congress 
passed  an  act  "for  the  prosecution  of  the  existing  war," 
because  "by  the  act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico  a  state  of 
war  exists."  The  wrath  of  the  antislavery  men  over  the  pur- 
pose of  enlarging  the  slave 
power  was  expressed  by 
James  Russell  Lowell  in 
the  fiercest  satire  of  his 
Biglow  Papers  :  — 

"  They  may  talk  o'  Freedom's 
airy 
Till  they're  pupple  in  the 
face, 
It's  a  grand  gret  cemetary 
Fer  the  barthrights  of  our 
race, 
They  jest  want  this  Calif  orny 
So's    to    lug    new    slave-       \ 
states  in 
To  abuse  ye,  an'  to  scorn 

ye, 

An'   to  plunder  ye    like 

sin !  "  James  Russell  Lowell,  about  1880. 


The  war  was  not  fairly  begun  before  President  Polk  tried 

to  purchase  a  peace  through  General  Santa  Anna,  formerly 

dictator  of  the   Mexican   republic;    and  he  asked  Con-       309  Wil_ 

gress   for   $2,000,000    to    be    used    for   "negotiations"   mot  Proviso 

(1846-1849) 
(August   4,  1846).     The  absolute  determination   of  the 

North  not  to  take  in  more  slave  territory  was  expressed  by 
an  amendment  of  David  Wilmot  of  Pennsylvania,  which  was 
added  by  the  House  to  the  "  Two  Million  Bill."    This  "  Wilmot 
Proviso  "  declared  that,  "  As  an  express  and  fundamental         Congres- 
condition  to  the  acquisition  of  any  territory  .  .   .  neither  8l0^gjPlj^ 
slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  ever  exist  in  any  p.  273 

part  of  the  said  territory."     The  bill  failed  through  a  tech- 
nicality; but  the  South  was  aroused.     Abraham  Lincoln,  in 


364  SECTIONALISM 

1847-1849,  voted  in  Congress  forty-two  times  for  the  principle 

of  the  Wilmot  Proviso;  but  he  voted  in  vain,  for  the  Senate 

always  showed  an  adverse  majority. 

Though  the  Mexican  War  was  begun  on  false  pretexts,  and 

for  the  unrighteous  purpose  of  the  conquest  of  California,  it 
310.  Prog-  was  carried  on  brilliantly  by  land  and  sea.  General  Tay- 
Mexi<f  the  lor  Presse(i  steadily  forward ;  beat  the  Mexicans  in  the 
War  battles  of  Palo  Alto  (May  8)  and  Resaca  de  la  Palm  a 

(1846-1847)    (May  9)?  on  the  north  gide  of    the    Rio    Grande.    then 

crossed  the  river,  and  again  defeated  the  Mexicans  at  Mon- 
terey (September  21-23).  Santa  Anna,  on  returning  to  Mexico, 
took  the  patriot  side,  and  organized  a  new  army,  with  which 
he  vainly  attacked  Taylor  at  Buena  Vista  (February  22, 
23,  1847). 

In  1846  the  administration  began  to  be  nervous  about  Tay- 
lor's popularity,  and  ordered  General  Winfield  Scott,  com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  army,  to  make  a  direct  attack  on  the 
heart  of  Mexico.  Scott  landed  and  took  Vera  Cruz  (March, 
1847);  and  then  fought  his  way  steadily  up  into  the  moun- 
tains, pushed  the  Mexicans  back  at  Cerro  Gordo  (April  18), 
and  marched  down  into  the  valley  of  Mexico  (August).  In 
a  succession  of  hard  fights  Scott  beat  the  enemy  back  and 
advanced  toward  the  city  of  Mexico,  which  he  attacked  with 
about  6000  disposable  troops  and  finally  captured,  September 
14, 1847.  The  Mexican  government  was  broken  up,  and  there- 
after was  unable  to  put  in  the  field  anything  more  than  bands 
of  guerrillas. 

The  belt  of  territory  from  Texas  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  was 

occupied  almost  without  resistance.     In  June,  1846,  General 

311.  Annex-   Stephen  W.  Kearny  marched  by  the  Santa  Fe  trail  from 

ationof  New  the  Missouri  River,  with  about  1600  men ;  and  on  August 
Mexico  and.  o 

California      18  entered  Santa  Fe  without  firing  a  shot.     He  set  up  a 
(1846-1848)   civil  government,  and  then  with  a  small  number  of  troops 
started  on  westward  to  take  possession  of   California.      But 


RENEWED   EXPANSION   (1841-1847) 


365 


California  was  already  conquered.  In  June,  1846,  the  three 
hundred  American  settlers  in  California  revolted  and  founded 
the  Bear  Flag  Republic  ;  and  Fremont,  in  defiance  of  orders  to 
let  the  native  Californians  set  up  their  own  government,  brought 
his  little  force  of  troops  to  aid  the  Americans  (July  5).  Then 
a  naval  force  under  Commodore  Sloat  reached  California  (July 
7,  1846).  There  was  a  brief  war  with  the  native  Californians, 
ending  with  two  battles  near  San  Gabriel  (January  8,  9, 1847) ; 


Santa  Barbara  Mission,  California,  founded  in  1780. 

after  which  time  there  was  no  disputing  the  physical  fact  that 
the  Americans  were  in  possession  of  the  country. 

After   the    Santa    Anna  plan    failed,   Polk    commissioned 
N.  P.  Trist,  a  clerk  in  the  State  Department,  to  make  terms 
with  Mexico.     Trist  proved  inexperienced,  quarrelsome,   312  Peace 
and  insubordinate.      He  renewed  the  attempt  to  buy  a   withjttexico 
peace  from  Santa  Anna,  but  no  body  of  reputable  Mexi- 
cans  would   take   the    responsibility    of    dismembering   their 
country;   and  Trist  was  recalled  (October,  1847). 

It  was  a  dangerous  crisis,  for  the  two  strongest  members  of 


(1847-1848) 


366  SECTIONALISM 

the  President's  Cabinet  wanted  him  to  take  the  whole  of 
Contempora-  Mexico.  Polk's  diary  says,  "I  replied  that  I  was  not 
ries,  IV.  34  prepared  to  go  to  that  extent,  .  .  .  that  I  had  in  my  last 
message  declared  that  I  did  not  contemplate  the  conquest 
of  Mexico."  The  recall  of  Trist  startled  the  Mexicans,  who 
persuaded  him  to  make  a  treaty,  on  the  basis  of  agreeing  to 
pay  to  the  Mexican  leaders  (nominally  to* the  Mexican  treasury) 
$15,000,000  ;  Mexico  gave  up  all  claim  to  Texas  as  far  as  the 
Rio  Grande,  and  ceded  the  whole  of  New  Mexico  and  Cali- 
fornia. This  treaty  was  accepted  by  Polk  and  approved  by  the 
Senate.  Thus  the  Mexican  War  resulted  in  a  great  increase 
of  territory,  gained  by  bullying  and  fighting  a  weak  neighbor. 
The  war  cost  about  $100,000,000  and  the  lives  of  13,000  of 
the  100,000  soldiers  engaged. 

The  annexation  of  California  at  once  brought  up  the  question 

of  the  control  of  the  routes  across  Central  America  (map,  p. 

313.  Isth-      581).     When  the  war  broke  out,  the  overland  route  to 

macy  California  took  from  three  to  eight  months'  time ;  and  the 

(1846-1849)  voyage  around  the  Horn  lasted  from  three  to  four  months. 

People  began  to  use  the  various  short  cuts  across  the  narrow 

lands ;    and  at  once  revived  the  idea  of   an  isthmian  canal. 

Therefore,  in  1846,  a  treaty  proposed  by  New  Granada  (now 

the    United  States  of  Colombia)  was  accepted  by  the  United 

States,   which   guaranteed    the    Isthmus  of    Panama    against 

seizure  or  interference,  while  New  Granada  guaranteed  to  the 

United  States  equality  of  use  of  any  canal  or  roadway  across 

the  isthmus. 

The  only  other  practicable  canal  route  across  Central 
America  was  through  the  Lake  of  Nicaragua ;  and  Great  Brit- 
ain claimed  a  "  protectorate  "  over  the  neighboring  Mosquito 
Indians.  This  pretension  caused  a  crisis  in  our  relations  with 
Great  Britain,  leading  to  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty  (April 
19,  1850),  which  was  a  fair  compromise  under  the  conditions 
of  the  time,  and  favorable  to  both  parties.     It  secured  common 


RENEWED   EXPANSION    (1841-1847)  367 

use  and  neutral  control  of  the  Nicaragua  route,  and  the  British 
agreed  not  to  make  any  settlements  in  Central  America.  The 
principle  of  neutral  and  common  use  of  a  canal  was  also  to  be 
extended  to  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 


The  principal  question  during  the  years  1841-1847  was  the 
annexation  of  territory.    The  Whig  administration  was  wrecked 
by  Tyler's  coming  to  power;  and  the  Democratic  princi-     314.  sum- 
ple  of  strict  construction  prevailed  in  domestic  matters.  mary 

Between  1842  and  1846  the  Maine  and  Oregon  boundary 
questions  were  settled,  and  Texas  was  annexed.  That  state 
with  its  actual  boundaries  might  have  been  peacefully  incor- 
porated into  the  Union,  but  the  claim  to  the  Kio  Grande 
seemed  to  the  Mexicans  robbery.  President  Polk,  a  masterful 
man,  seized  the  opportunity  to  force  the  issue  of  war,  in  order 
to  annex  New  Mexico  and  California.  He  got  more  than  he 
bargained  for,  when  he  found  our  army  in  possession  of  a 
country  too  disrupted  even  to  ask  for  terms  of  peace;  but 
almost  by  accident,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  reached  in  1848. 

Polk's  designs  on  California,  and  above  all  the  discussion  of 
the  Wilmot  Proviso,  aroused  the  North  to  the  new  and  fright- 
ful crisis  which  had  arisen  over  slavery  in  the  new  territories. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Why  was  John  Tyler  nominated  for  Vice  President?  Suggestive 
(2)  Why  did  Tyler  veto  the  bank  bills  in  1841?  (3)  Why  did  topic8 
Tyler  veto  the  tariff  bills  in  1842  ?  (4)  What  was  the  boundary 
line  fixed  by  the  treaty  of  1842  ?  (5)  Fremont's  third  expedition, 
1845.  (6)  Why  was  not  Van  Buren  nominated  in  1844  ?  (7)  Why 
did  the  Liberty  men  refuse  to  vote  for  Clay  ?  (8)  Arguments  for 
and  against  the  tariff  of  1846.  (9)  Conflict  between  Taylor  and 
the  Mexicans,  April  24,  1846.  (10)  What  was  the  object  of  the 
Wilmot  Proviso  ?  (11)  The  battle  of  Monterey.  (12)  Capture  of 
the  city  of  Mexico.     (13)  Need  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty. 

(14)  Campaign  meetings  in  1840.     (15)  What  were  the  "High-    Search 
lands"  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of  1783?     (16)  What  was  the    topics 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 22 


368 


SECTIONALISM 


"  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia  "  ?  (17)  The  Aroostook  War, 
1838.  (18)  Examples  of  quitrents  in  the  American  colonies. 
(19)  An  account  of  the  Biglow  Papers.  (20)  Examples  of 
protest  against  the  annexation  of  Texas.  (21)  Contemporary 
arguments  for  the  annexation  of  Texas.  (22)  Travel  on  the  Santa 
Fe  trail.  (23)  Did  Marcus  Whitman  confer  with  Daniel  Web- 
ster? (24)  Tom  Corwin's  argument  against  the  Mexican  War. 
(25)  U.  S.  Grant  in  the  Mexican  War.  (26)  The  Bear  Flag 
Republic.     (27)  Adventures  on  the  isthmian  route  to  California. 


REFERENCES 


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Secondary- 
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Sources 


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works 


Pictures 


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tions, 178-224;   Garrison,  Westward  Extension. 

Wilson,  People,  IV.  88-128  ;  Charming,  United  States,  224-234  ; 
Stanwood,  Presidency,  206-225 ;  Garrison,  Westivard  Extension ; 
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48-120  ;  Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§  102-109  ;  Sato,  Land  Ques- 
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of  Diplomacy,  281-325  ;  Callahan,  Cuba,  195-220 ;  Schurz,  Henry 
Clay,  II.  199-315  ;  Hoist,  J.  C.  Calhoun,  221-306  ;  McLaughlin, 
Lewis  Cass,  175-235;  Roosevelt,  T.  II.  Benton,  210-289;  Morse, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  I.  1-86  ;  Bancroft,  W.  II.  Seward,  I.  1-156  ; 
Elliott,  Sam  Houston,  122-133 ;  Howard,  General  Taylor,  76-294  ; 
Wright,  General  Scott,  149-288;  Wilson,  General  Grant,  1-73; 
Garrison,  Texas ;  Winn,  Mormons ;  Royce,  California. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  103,  104,  —  Contemporaries,  III.  §§  186- 
189,  IV.  §§  8-16,  —  Source  Beaders,  III.  §§  40,  54-56,  IV.  §§  47, 
48  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Documents,  nos.  70-76  ;  Old  South  Leaflets, 
nos.  45-132;  Caldwell,  Territorial  Government,  131-199;  U.  S. 
Grant,  Memoirs,  I.  61-174  ;  Dana,  Two  Years  before  the  Mast. 
See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  349,  —  Historical 
Sources,  §  86. 

Matthews,  Poems  of  American  Patriotism,  108-115;  Whittier, 
Antislavery  Poems,  94-146,  —  Angels  of  Buena  Vista  ;  Lowell, 
Biglow  Papers  (first  series),  —  Present  Crisis  ;  Ruth  Hall,  Down- 
renter'1  s  Son  (antirent);  Charles  Morris,  Historical  Tales,  255-269 
(telegraph);  Dana,  Two  Years  before  the  Mast  (Cal.);  G.  F. 
Atherton,  Splendid  Idle  Forties  (Cal.). 

Wilson,  American  People,  IV.;  Sparks,  Expansion. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

RESULTS   OF   THE   MEXICAN   WAR    (1848-1853) 

Polk's  astute  plans  for  making  California  a  slaveholding 
region  were  brought   to   naught   by  a  few  grains  of   yellow 
metal.     On  January  24,  1848,  about  a  week  before  the  .    315.  Gold 
treaty   of    peace   was    signed,   James    W.    Marshall'  of         "fomia 
New  Jersey  picked  up  some  flakes  of  gold  in  the  race   (1848-1853) 
of  a  new  sawmill  about  sixty  miles  from  Sutter's  Fort,  now 
called    Sacramento.     The  news   spread   like  the  cry  of   fire ; 
within  six  months  the   coast  settlements  of   California  were 


Sutter's  Mill  and  Race. 

From  a  painting  in  the  Ferry  House,  San  Francisco. 

369 


370  SECTIONALISM 

almost  deserted;  the  inhabitants  hurried  to  the  gold  dig- 
gings, which  were  "placers"  (gravel  reaches  or  terraces) 
yielding  gold  in  dust,  coarser  particles,  and  nuggets.  Soon  all 
sorts  of  merchandise  rose  in  price  three  times  over ;  and  some 
miners  by  their  individual  labor  were  taking  from  $ 3000  to 
$5000  a  month  at  the  diggings. 

The  next  year  thousands  of  u  Forty-niners  "  made  their  way 

to  California,  some  around  Cape  Horn,  some  across  the  Isthmus 

of  Panama  or  Nicaragua,  some  in  wagon  trains  straight  west 

across  the  plains  (p.  324).     Between  fifty  thousand  and  one 

hundred  thousand  people  poured  into  California,  and  in  two 

seasons   more   than   $30,000,000  of   gold  was  taken  out.     If 

somebody  "struck  it  rich,"  "in  half  an  hour  a  motley  multi- 

Colton,  tude,   covered   with    crowbars,   pickaxes,  spades,   rifles, 

inCali/or-8  an(*  wasn  bowls,  went  streaming  over  the  hills  in  the 

nia,  293  direction  of  the  new  deposits."     The  old  Spanish  mining 

laws  were  inadequate,  and  the  criminal  laws  did  not  apply  to 

the  circumstances  ;  and  there  was  no  government  to  pass  new 

statutes.     The   miners  therefore   organized,  made   their   own 

mining  rules,  and  set  up  so-called  "  vigilance  committees  "  for 

offhand  punishment  of  crime. 

Gold  mining  was  not  all  success.  Probably  every  dollar  of 
placer  gold  ever  found  in  California  cost  on  the  average  at 
least  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  in  human  toil,  besides  the  waste 
of  human  life.  After  1853  the  yield  of  exposed  placer  gold 
declined,  and  mining  in  California  gradually  became  a  regular 
industry  backed  up  by  capital.  Large  streams  were  turned 
out  of  their  beds  in  order  to  find  the  placer  gold  at  the  bottom 
of  their  courses ;  then  the  gold  was  traced  back  to  the  quartz 
ledges,  and  stamp  mills  were  set  up. 

One  object  of  the  annexation  of  California  was  to  secure 
316.  Trade  ports  for  direct  trade  with  the  Pacific  islands,  China, 
cific  "  an(^  JaPan-  r-Tne  halfway  station  of  the  Sandwich  or 
(1844-1854)   Hawaiian    Islands   had   for    twenty   years    been    under 


RESULTS   OF  THE   MEXICAN   WAR    (1848-1853)         371 


the  influence  of  American  missionaries,  and  the  native  dynasty 
recognized  that  the  interests  of  the  United  States  were  greater 
than  those  of  any  other  power.  Chinese  trade,  however,  was 
very  much  hampered  by  restrictions  in  Chinese  ports.  In 
1844  Caleb  Gushing,  sent  out  by  the  United  States,  was  able 
to  secure  a  very  desirable  commercial  treaty  by  which  five 
Chinese  "  treaty  ports  "  were  designated  for  American  trade ; 
American  consuls  were  allowed  to  hold  courts  for  cases  in- 
volving their  countrymen ;  and  American  merchants  and  other 
people  got  the  right  to  buy  pieces  of  ground  for  their  own 
occupancy,  "and  also  for  hospitals,  churches,  and  cemeteries. " 


Perry  in  Japan,  1854.     (From  Perry's  Narrative.) 

Japan  refused  to  admit  any  traders  or  foreign  merchantmen 
on  any  terms,  till  the  United  States  sent  Commodore  Matthew 
C.  Perry  to  open  up  relations.  He  entered  ports  where  no 
European  vessel  had  ever  been  seen ;  he  succeeded  in  breaking 
in  the  shell  of  the  old  empire;  and  he  secured  a  favorable 
commercial  treaty  in  1854. 

The  principal  issue  in  the  presidential  election  of  1848  was 
the  future  of  New  Mexico  and  California.  The  Whigs  nomi- 
nated  General   Zachary  Taylor.     Van   Buren's   friends   soon 


372  SECTIONALISM 

after  1844  formed  what  was  called  the  "Barnburner"  faction 
of  Democrats  in  New  York ;    and  when  the  Democratic  con- 

317.  Crisis    mention  of  May,  1848,  refused  their  delegates  full  recog- 

oii  territo-  nition,  and  then  nominated  for  President  a  "  dough-face," 
rial  slavery  ,  .      . 

(1846-1849)  or  northern  proslavery  man,  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan, 

on  a  noncommittal  platform,  the  Barnburners  bolted.     They 

combined   with    the    Free-soilers    (who   included   the   former 

Liberty  men)  in  nominating  Van  Buren  for  President,  on  the 

platform  of  "Free  Soil,  Free  Speech,  Free  Labor,  and  Free 

Men."     This   combination   polled    nearly   300,000  votes   and 

threw  New  York  over  from  the  Democratic  to  the  Whig  side, 

thus  allowing  Zachary  Taylor,  a  slaveholder,  to  be  elected  by 

163  electoral  votes  to  127  for  Cass. 

From  1846  to  1849  several  different  propositions  were  made 
for  settling  the  question  whether  slavery  was  to  be  legal  in 
California  and  New  Mexico:  (1)  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  ex- 
cluding slavery  by  act  of  Congress;  (2)  establishment  of 
slavery  by  act  of  Congress;  (3)  continuation  of  the  36°  30' 
compromise  line  from  Texas  to  the  Pacific;  (4)  "popular 
sovereignty,"  which  was  a  suggestion  by  Cass  that  the  ques- 
tion be  left  to  the  people  of  the  respective  territories;  (5)  "ex- 
ecutive regulations,"  through  the  Walker  Bill,  which  would 
have  given  to  the  President  authority  to  form  a  government. 
None  of  the  five  propositions  could  get  a  majority  in  both 
houses  of  Congress,  and  the  only  action  bearing  on  the  ques- 
tion was  an  act  organizing  the  Territory  of  Oregon  (August  14, 
1848)  with  a  prohibition  of  slavery. 

As  soon  as  Taylor  became  President  (March  4,  1849),  he 
used  his  influence  and  authority  to  bring  about  a  state  consti- 

318.  Slav-  tutional  convention  in  California.  That  convention  drew 
tkmsUeS"  UP  a  s^a,te  constitution  (September,  1849)  which  definitely 
(1849-1850)  prevented  either  a  compromise  line  or  local  slavery  on 

the  Pacific  coast ;  for  it  declared  that  California  extended  all 
the  way  along  the  coast  from  Mexico  to  Oregon,  and  it  abso- 


RESULTS  OF  THE   MEXICAN   WAR    (1848-1853)         373 


lutely  forbade  slavery.  Free  miners,  working  with  their  own 
hands,  would  not  permit  slaveholders  to  come  out  with  their 
slaves  and  compete  in  the 
placers.  A  state  government 
was  immediate^  organized  with- 
out waiting  for  any  act  of  Con- 
gress. 

The  air  was  full  of  slavery 
questions.  Antislavery  men  felt 
that  the  time  had  come  for 
some  action  which  would  put 
a  stop  to  the  domestic  slave 
trade  almost  under  the  shadow 
of  the  Capitol;  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  introduced  a  bill  (Jan- 
uary, 1849)  for  gradual  emanci- 
pation of  the  slaves  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.  The  fugi- 
tive slave  act  of  1793  had 
never  worked  well,  and  a  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court  (Prigg  vs.  Pennsylvania,  1842) 
took  away  much  of  its  force.  Besides,  there  was  a  regular 
system  for  aiding  fugitives  to  escape,  popularly  known  as 
the  "Underground  Bailroad,"  in  which  more  than  3000  peo- 
ple are  known  to  have  taken  part ;  and  through  which,  from 
1830  to  1860,  upward  of  60,000  slaves  escaped.  Fugitives 
were  kept  in  the  houses  of  abolitionists,  forwarded  from  place 
to  place  at  night,  or  hidden  in  out-of-the-way  places ;  and  if 
the  pursuers  came,  were  finally  shipped  across  the  Lakes  to 
free  Canada.  The  South  demanded  that  a  more  effective  fugi- 
tive slave  law  be  provided,  and  bills  for  that  purpose  were 
introduced. 

Behind  all  these  questions  was  the  larger  issue  of  the  rela- 
tive power  of  free  and  slave  states.     Up  to  1849  the  principle 


A  California  Big  Trep:. 

Grizzly  Giant,"  in  the  Mariposa 
Grove. 


374  SECTIONALISM 

of  balancing  states  continued ;  Arkansas  (slave)  was  admitted 
in  1836,  and  Michigan  (free)  in  1837,  Florida  and  Texas 
(slave)  in  1845,  and  Iowa  and  Wisconsin  (free)  in  1840  and 
1848.  To  admit  California  as  a  free  state  meant  permanent 
superiority  of  the  North  in  the  Senate,  for  there  was  nowhere 
a  southern  territory  ready  to  enter  the  Union. 

To  settle  all  these  complicated  questions  once  for  all,  Henry 

Clay,  "  The  Great  Pacificator,"  came  forward  in  January,  1850, 

319   Com       W^  a  comPromise  measure  which  he  urged  with  all  his 

promise  de-  energies,  and  which  was  carried  into  effect  seven  months 

*        '   later.     He  declared,  "  No  earthly  power  could  induce  me 

Congres-        to   yo^e  for  a  specific  measure  for  the   introduction   of 

Sional  Globe, 

1849-1850,       slavery  where  it  had  not  before  existed  " ;    but  he  be- 

p.  279  lieved  that  New  Mexico  and  California  were  already  free 

by  Mexican  law ;  and  therefore  that  the  North  might  safely 
accept  his  plan. 

The    Compromise   of  1850   was   really   made    possible    by 

Daniel  Webster,  as   leader  of    the  "  Cotton,"  or   commercial, 

Whigs  of   the   North.      In   his   famous   "  Seventh  of   March 

Speech,"  he  argued  that  the  North  had  not  done  its  duty  to 

the  South,  and  was  putting  the  Union  in  danger  by  refusing 

Contem  o-     a  ^a*r  comPromise-     As  for  slavery  in  New  Mexico,  he 

varies,  IV.      was   sure   that  it  could   never  be  profitable  there,  and 

he  summed  up  his  principles  in  the  striking  phrase,  "  I 

would  not  take  pains  to  reaffirm  an  ordinance  of  nature  nor 

to  reenact  the  will  of  God." 

Perhaps  there  was  some  danger  to  the  Union :  the  Virginia 

legislature  voted  for  "  determined  resistance  at  all  hazards  " ; 

and  a  convention   was  called    to  meet   at   Nashville    to    dis- 

Congres-        cuss   the    question   of   separation.      Robert  Toombs   of 

fsZ-isJo^  Georgia  declared  in  open  Congress,  "  I  do  not  hesitate 

p.  28  to  avow  ...  in  the  presence  of  the  living  God,  that  if 

.  .  .  you  seek  to  drive  us  from  .  .  .  California  ...  I  am  for 

disunion."       In   milder  terms   John  C.  Calhoun,  in  the  last 


RESULTS   OF   THE   MEXICAN   WAR    (1848-1853)  375 

speech  of  his  life,  argued  against  a  compromise,  because  the 
only  thing  that  could  pacify  the  South  was  for  the  North  to 
stop  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  and  to  promise  that 
nothing  should  be  done  by  Congress  contrary  to  the  in-       Johnston, 
terests  of  slavery :  as  he  said,  "  If  you,  who  represent  the       A^r^n 
stronger  portion,  can  not  agree  to  settle  ...  on  the  broad  II. 159 

principle  of  justice  and  duty,  say  so;  and  let  the  states  we 
both  represent  agree  to  separate." 

Northern  senators  like  Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio  scouted  the 
idea  that  the  Union  was  in  danger,  and  denounced  any  com- 
promise as  a  yielding  of  principle  to  empty  threats.  They 
looked  on  Webster  as  a  man  who  had  always  been  opposed  to 
slavery  but  was  now  betraying  his  own  section,  in  the  hope 
of  getting  southern  support  for  the  presidency. 

President  Taylor,  who  was  under  the  influence  of  Senator 
William  H.  Seward  of  New  York,  leader  of  the  "  Conscience 
Whigs,"    refused   to  favor  Clay's   compromise;    but  he       320.  The 
died  suddenly  in  July,  1850,  and  Vice-President  Millard  C°m^opted 
Fillmore  of  New  York  became  President,  and  signed  in  (1850) 

succession  the  five  bills  into  which  the  Clay  Compromise 
had  been  divided.  (1)  By  the  first  bill  New  Mexico  was 
organized  as  a  territory  comprising  lands  on  both  sides  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  but  Texas  received  $10,000,000  as  indemnity  for 
accepting  her  present  limits;  the  real  issue  was  carefully 
avoided  by  providing  (a)  that  "  the  Constitution  and  all  laws 
which  are  not  locally  inapplicable"  should  apply  to  New 
Mexico;  (b)  that  no  citizen  of  the  United  States  should  be 
deprived  of  his  "  life,  liberty,  or  property  except  by  the  judg- 
ment of  his  peers  and  the  law  of  the  land "  ;  (c)  that  when 
admitted  as  a  state  "  the  said  Territory  .  .  .  shall  be  admitted 
into  the  Union,  with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  constitution 
may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  admission."  This  was  a  tacit 
permission  to  hold  slaves  while  it  remained  a  territory. 
(2)  The  next  bill  admitted  California  as  a  free  state.    (3)  The 


RESULTS   OF  THE   MEXICAN   WAR    (1848-1853)         377 

Utah  Bill,  with  provisions  like  those  of  the  New  Mexico  Bill, 
organized  a  territory  north  of  New  Mexico,  apparently  in- 
tended to  be  free.  (4)  A  new  fugitive  slave  act  provided  for 
a  system  of  United  States  Commissioners  to  try  cases  in  a 
"  summary  manner."  (5)  Another  act  prohibited  the  slave 
trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Among  the  new  senators  in  1849  was  William  H.  Seward  of 
New  York,  who  at  once  came  forward  as  a  leading  antislavery 
man  in  Congress.     Born  in  1801,  Seward  went  to  Union 
College  and  was  for  a  short  time  tutor  in  a  slaveholding  ard  and  tke 

family  in  the  South.    He  went  into  politics  in  New  York     higher  law 
.  (1840-1850) 

state  and  was  twice  Whig  governor  of  New  York  (1839- 

1843).  His  intimate  friend  and  political  manager  was  Thur- 
low  Weed,  one  of  the  most  adroit,  long-headed,  and  unscru- 
pulous politicians  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

In  the  debate  of  1850  Seward  was  the  recognized  spokesman 
of  the  antislavery  opponents  of  the  compromise.  His  argu- 
ment was  that  compromises  settled  nothing,  and  that  it  was 
useless  to  try  to  provide  for  questions  before  they  came  up. 
In  his  speech  Seward  let  fall  a  phrase  which  stamped  him  in 
the  minds  of  the  South  as  an  implacable  enemy :  "  The  Con- 
stitution devotes  the  domain  to  union,  to  justice,  to  de-  Contempora- 
fense,  to  welfare,  and  to  liberty.  But  there  is  a  higher  ries> Iv- 58 
law  than  the  Constitution,  which  regulates  our  authority 
over  the  domain,  and  devotes  it  to  the  same  noble  purpose." 
What  he  meant  to  say  was  that  the  law  of  God  agreed  with 
the  Constitution;  what  he  was  understood  to  say  was  that 
the  higher  law  nullified  the  Constitution,  which  undoubtedly 
recognized  slavery  as  existing  in  some  states  and  territories. 

Balked  of  the  expected  slaveholding  state  in  California,  the 
extreme   southerners    now  turned   to   Cuba,    so  rich,  so         322.  At- 
near  to  the  United  States,  so  abounding  in  slaves.     Polk      temPcuba 
had  even  offered  a  hundred  million   dollars  for  the  is-  (1849-1851) 
land  in  1848.      Several  expeditions  of  "filibusters,"  that  is, 


378  SECTIONALISM 

of  volunteer  adventurers,  were  fitted  out  in  New  Orleans ;  and 
one  of  them,  under  one  Lopez,  landed  in  Cuba  (August,  1851) 
with  nearly  500  men.  The  expedition  was  captured  by  the  Span- 
iards, and  Lopez  with  about  fifty  of  his  followers  was  executed. 
On  hearing  the  news,  the  populace  of  New  Orleans  attacked 
the  Spanish  consulate.  President  Fillmore,  while  strongly  cen- 
suring the  expedition,  did  what  he  could  to  save  the  remaining 
prisoners,  and  a  proper  apology  was  made  to  Spain  for  the 
New  Orleans  incident. 

The  radical  autislavery  people  showed  their  discontent  with 
the  compromise  by  violent  resistance  to  the  fugitive  slave  law, 
323.  Fugi-  of  wllich  several  instances  should  be  mentioned.  In 
tive  slave  February,  1851,  an  undoubted  fugitive  named  Shadrach 
(1851-1858)  was  arreste(i  in  Boston  and  brought  before  the  United 
Hart,  States  Commissioner.     An  eyewitness  said,  "We  heard  a 

Source  shout  from  the  courthouse  continued  into  a  veil  of  tri- 

Book,  243  ,  ,    .  .  J 

urapn,  and  in  an  instant  after  down  the  steps  came  two 
huge  negroes  bearing  the  prisoner  between  them  with  his 
clothes  half  torn  off,  .  .  .  and  they  went  off  toward  Cambridge, 
like  a  black  squall,  the  crowd  driving  along  with  them  and 
cheering  as  they  went."  In  September,  1851,  a  man  named 
Gorsuch,  who  had  pursued  runaways  to  Christiana,  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  killed  by  his  own  slaves.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  frighten  the  abolitionists  by  trying  for  treason  a  Quaker 
named  Castner  Han  way,  who  was  present  and  refused  to  aid 
Gorsuch.  The  prosecution,  however,  broke  down,  and  the 
slayers  of  Gorsuch  were  not  found.  In  1854,  while  a  fugitive 
named  Burns  was  confined  in  the  United  States  courthouse  in 
Boston,  a  mob  of  abolitionists,  in  an  attempt  to  rescue  him, 
broke  in  the  door  and  killed  one  of  the  deputy  marshals. 

The  breakdown  of  prosecutions  against  the  rescuers,  in  these 
and  other  like  instances,  showed  that  northern  public  senti- 
ment was  so  strong  against  slavery  that  it  was  not  worth 
while  to  appeal  to  the  fugitive  slave  law.     The  spectacle  of  a 


RESULTS   OF   THE   MEXICAN   WAR   (1848-1853)         379 


\'^y\- 


Kunaway  Slave. 

Cut  used  in  newspaper 
advertisements. 


hunted  fugitive,  sent  back  to  lifelong  captivity  for  no  crime 
except  that  of  being  a  black  slave,  brought  home  the  conditions 

of  slavery  to  thousands  of  northern 
people. 

The  hostility  to  slavery  was 
voiced  by  the  legislatures  of  most 
of  the  northern  states  in  the  324.  Per- 
« Personal  Liberty  Bills."  B^^ 
Under  the  fugitive  slave  laws  (1 840-1 861) 
of  1793  and  1850,  a  free  negro  who 
was  suspected  of  being  a  fugitive 
could  be  arrested  and  his  status 
determined  without  any  oppor- 
tunity for  the  cross-examination 
of  witnesses;  and  in  several  in- 
stances free  men  were  thus  kid- 
naped and  sent  into  slavery.  To 
meet  this  danger,  about  1840  the  northern  states  began  to  pass 
acts  to  compel  a  jury  trial  for  alleged  fugitives,  and  to  forbid 
their  officials  to  take  any  part  in  the  proceedings  against  such 
persons.  So  far  the  states  were  acting  within  their  rights ;  but 
after  the  Act  of  1850,  new  statutes  were  passed  in  all  the  north- 
ern states  except  two,  interfering  in  various  ways  with  the  opera- 
tion of  the  national  fugitive  slave  statute  and  Constitution.  All 
these  acts  showed  that  the  free  states,  Constitution  or  no  Con- 
stitution, would  not  recognize  any  responsibility  for  slavery. 

In  this  time  of  storm  and  stress,  the  person  who  perhaps 
did  most  to  affect  the  history  of  the  country  was  Harriet     32g  Uncle 
Beecher  Stowe,  through  her  story   Uncle   Tom's   Cabin,   Tom's  Cabin 
published  first  as  a  serial  in  1851,  and  afterward  in  many 
editions  in  book  form.     The  book  was  not  primarily  intended 
to  be  a  political  weapon;  but  it  expressed  a  bitter  sense  of 
injustice  at  the  system  of  man  owning  man,  and  it  made  the 
whole  world  see  the  human  side  of  negro  character,  the  kin- 


(1852) 


380  SECTIONALISM 

ship  of  men  of  every  race.  It  was  the  only  antislavery  book 
widely  read  and  discussed  in  the  South. 

How  far  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  is  a  truthful  picture  of  slavery 
has  been  much  disputed.  Mrs.  Stowe  had  indeed  seen  some- 
thing of  slave  life  in  Kentucky ;  and  some  of  the  incidents,  such 
as  Eliza's  escape  on  the  ice,  were  actual  events.  The  purpose 
of  the  book  was  to  call  attention  to  the  inevitable  cruelty  of 
human  bondage  and  its  degrading  effect  on  the  master,  and 
to  that  end  the  author  made  use  of  harrowing  scenes,  all  of 
which  were  possible  under  slavery,  and  many  of  which  could 
be  paralleled  by  extracts  from  the  southern  newspapers  of 
the  time. 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  recalled  men  to   the  real  question  of 
the  day,  away  from  artificial  politics.     No  serious  issue  existed 
326  P  IT     between  the  two  political  parties:  the  Whigs  no  longer 
cal  break-      wanted  a  bank,  or  national  internal  improvements,  or  a 
up  protective  tariff ;  but  there  was  a  strong  and  fierce  divi- 

sion of  opinion  inside  each  party  on  the  slavery  question. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  political  campaign  of  1852  both  Whigs 
and  Democrats  insisted  that  the  compromise  was  a  "  finality," 
and  that  the  antislavery  people  were  making  all  the  trouble 
because  they  would  keep  on  discussing  it.  The  Whigs  nomi- 
nated Winfield  Scott  of  Virginia,  a  good  soldier,  but  a  weak 
candidate.  For  the  Democratic  nomination  there  was  a  fierce 
competition  between  Cass,  Douglas  of  Illinois,  Buchanan  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Marcy  of  New  York ;  but  the  place  went  to 
an  inconspicuous  man,  Franklin  Pierce  of  New  Hampshire, 
who  had  been  for  two  terms  a  member  of  Congress,  and  for 
one  term  a  senator,  and  had  served  creditably  in  the  Mexican 
War.  The  former  Free-soil  party  reorganized  as  the  Free 
Democracy.  Pierce  received  254  electoral  votes  to  42  for 
Scott.  Though  the  Whigs  polled  nearly  1,400,000  popular 
votes  against  1,600,000  for  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  155,000 
for  the  Free  Democrats,  they  carried  only  four  states. 


RESULTS   OF  THE   MEXICAN   WAR    (1848-1853)         381 

The  five  years  from  1848  to  1853  were  full  of  excitement 
and  danger.     At  the  beginning  of  the  period  Congress  had  to 
face  three  hotly  disputed  questions :  (1)  the  boundaries      327.  Sum- 
of  Texas;  (2)  the  future  of  New  Mexico;  (3)  the  future  mary 

of  California.  The  South  insisted  that  the  recently  annexed 
territory  should  be  divided  by  the  compromise  line  of  36°  30' 
extended  to  the  Pacific;  the  North  insisted  that  both  Cali- 
fornia and  New  Mexico  should  remain  free.  At  the  same 
time  the  questions  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
of  fugitive  slaves,  came  in  to  confuse  the  issue. 

After  four  years  of  exhausting  discussion,  all  these  issues 
were  apparently  adjusted  by  the  Compromise  of  1850.  The 
people  of  California  secured  a  free-state  government,  and  Con- 
gress cut  down  the  Texan  territorial  claim ;  a  new  and  more 
severe  fugitive  slave  law  was  passed ;  and  the  slave  trade  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  was  prohibited.  New  Mexico  was 
divided  into  the  two  territories  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  in 
each  of  which  slaveholders  were  allowed  to  settle  with  their 
slaves  if  they  chose,  the  expectation  being  that  New  Mexico 
would  become  a  slave  state. 

Yet  as  soon  as  the  compromise  had  been  passed,  four  new 
issues  arose  out  of  slavery :  (1)  the  annexation  of  Cuba ;  (2) 
the  nullification  of  the  fugitive  slave  law  by  violence  and  by 
"  personal  liberty  laws " ;  (3)  the  revival  of  the  abolition 
spirit  under  the  stimulus  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin-,  (4)  the 
defeat  of  the  Whigs,  which  showed  that  slavery  had  caused 
fatal  internal  divisions  in  that  party  as  a  national  organization. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Why  did  the  Free-soilers  object  to  Lewis  Cass  ?     (2)  Why    Suggestive 
did   Taylor    wish    to    form   a  state    government    in    California?     op  cs 

(3)  Why  did  Clay  think  that  slavery  did  not  exist  in  New  Mexico  ? 

(4)  What  was  the  need  of  a  new  fugitive  slave   act  in  1850? 

(5)  Was  Daniel  Webster's  Seventh  of   March   Speech   a  bid  for 
the  presidency?    (6)  What  did  Calhoun   think  would  save  the 


382 


SECTIONALISM 


Search 
topics 


Union  ?     (7)   Why  did  not  Taylor  favor  the  Compromise  of  1850  ? 

(8)  Why   was  Franklin  Pierce  nominated  for  the  presidency? 

(9)  A  brief  account  of  the  Whig  party. 

(10)  At  the  silver  mines  in  California.  (11)  Hydraulic  mining  in 
California.  (12)  The  Walker  Bill  of  1849.  (13)  Caleb  Cushing 
in  China.  (14)  The  Underground  Railroad.  (15)  Robert  Toombs's 
opinions  on  slavery.  (16)  Discovery  of  gold  in  California. 
(17)  The  Barnburners  in  New  York.  (18)  The  Buffalo  Free-soil 
convention.  (19)  Commodore  Perry  in  Japan.  (20)  The  Cali- 
fornia constitutional  convention,  1849.  (21)  William  H.  Seward's 
opinions  on  slavery.  (22)  The  New  Orleans  riot  of  1851.  (23)  The 
Shadrach  fugitive  slave  case.  (24)  The  Gorsuch  fugitive  slave  case. 
(25)  Examples  of  personal  liberty  bills.  (26)  Contemporary 
opinions  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin.     (27)  Return  of  Anthony  Burns. 


REFERENCES 


Geography- 
Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


See  maps,  pp.  324,  362,  376  ;  Garrison,  Westward  Extension. 

Wilson,  Division  and  Beunion,  §§  83-89  ;  Stanwood,  Presi- 
dency, 226-257  ;  Garrison,  Westward  Extension  ;  Schouler,  United 
States,  V.  100-260  ;  Rhodes,  United  States,  I.  99-302  ;  Earned, 
History  for  Beady  Reference,  I.  350,  IV.  2929,  V.  3382  ;  Macy, 
Political  Parties,  102-161  ;  Smith,  Liberty  and  Free- Soil  Parties, 
121-260  ;  McDougall,  Fugitive  Slaves,  §§  19-83  ;  Siebert,  Under- 
ground Bailroad ;  Eatane,  United  States  and  Spanish  America, 
105-116,  176-194,  —  American  Relations  in  the  Pacific,  72-123; 
Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  II.  316-415 ;  Lodge,  Daniel  Webster,  265- 
333;  Hapgood,  Daniel  Webster,  102-114;  Hoist,,/.  C.  Calhoun, 
306-350  ;  McLaughlin,  Lewis  Cass,  235-292  ;  Bancroft,  W.  H 
Seward,  I.  156-332  ;  Hart,  S.  P.  Chase,  95-132 ;  Brown,  S.  A. 
Douglas,  1-81  ;  Morse,   Abraham  Lincoln,  I.  87-93. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  105-107,  —  Contemporaries,  IV.  §§  7, 
17-33,  —  Source  Readers,  III.  §86,  IV.  §§12-16;  MacDonald, 
Select  Documents,  nos.  77-82  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  no.  82  ; 
Johnston,  American  Orations,  IE  123-340.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist. 
Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  360, — Historical  Sources,  §86. 

Lowell,  Bigloiv  Papers  (first  series)  ;  Whittier,  Antislavery 
Poems,  146-155,  159-173,  —  Ichabod  ;  Kirk  Munroe,  Golden  Days 
of  '49;  Bret  Harte,  Luck  of  Boaring  Camp,  —  Tales  of  the  Argo- 
nauts ;  J.  T.  Trowbridge,  Neighbor  Jackwood  (fugitives) ;  C.  R. 
Sherlock,  Bed  Anvil  (fugitives). 

Wilson,  American  People,  IV.  passim. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

FORESHADOWING  OF   CIVIL   WAR    (1853-1859) 

Slavery  was  primarily  a  matter  for  state  legislation,  like 
the  question  of  title  to  land;  but  it  became  a  national  ques- 
tion because  the  federal   government  had  to  take  cog-      328  Poli_ 
nizance  of  slavery  in  four  ways  :  —  tics  and 

(1)  Congress  had  power  to  legislate  for  the  District  of 
Columbia  in  all  cases  whatsoever.     The  question  of  slavery  in 
the  district,  which  came  up  about  1827,  was  pressed  by  the 
abolition  politicians  after  1835,  and  accented  by  the  discussion 
in  1850,  as  to  the  sale  of  slaves  in  the  district. 

(2)  Congress  had  complete  power  over  the  foreign  and  inter- 
state slave  trade :  the  foreign  slave  trade  was  prohibited  by 
acts  of  1807  and  later  amendments,  but  a  movement  began  in 
the  far  South  in  1859-1860  to  reopen  the  African  slave  trade ; 
the  domestic  trade  was  never  restricted,  except  in  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

(3)  Congress  had  power  over  the  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves, 
and  exercised  it  by  the  two  acts  of  1793  and  1850. 

(4)  Congress  had  power  to  regulate  the  territories,  and  exer- 
cised it  by  four  successive  acts  prohibiting  slavery  in  definite 
areas  :  (a)  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  Northwest  Territory, 
reaffirmed  by  an  act  of  Congress  of  1789;  (6)  the  Missouri 
Compromise  of  1820,  covering  the  Louisiana  cession  north 
of  36°  30' ;  (c)  the  Texas  resolution  of  1845,  prohibiting  slavery 
in  any  states  which  might  be  created  out  of  any  part  of  Texas 
north  of  36°  30' ;  (d)  the  Oregon  Act  of  1848,  prohibiting  slavery 
in  that  territory.  In  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  by  the  Com- 
promise of  1850,  Congress  evaded   its  responsibility,  leaving 

383 


384  SECTIONALISM 

the  question  to  be  settled  by  the  people  who  might  be  on  the 
ground  when  the  time  came  to  organize  states.  It  was  clear 
that  any  future  annexation  of  territory  would  lead  to  a  tierce 
contest  to  decide  which  section  should  control  it. 

Nevertheless,    in   his    inaugural  address   (March   4,   1853), 
President  Pierce  hinted  that   he   favored  the   annexation  of 

329.  At-  Cuba.  His  Secretary  of  State,  William  L.  Marcy,  and 
nex  Cuba*11"  *^s  Secretary  °f  War,  Jefferson  Davis,  disagreed  on  that 
(1854)  question  ;  and  Pierce  vacillated,  according  as  one  or  the 

other  of  these  two  men  had  influence  over  him.  As  minister 
to  Spain  he  appointed  Pierre  Soule,  of  Louisiana,  an  ardent 
"fire  eater,"  as  extreme  advocates  of  slavery  were  called,  and 
an  annexationist,  who  bent  all  his  energies  to  acquire  Cuba. 
When  the  steamer  Black  Warrior  was  seized  in  Havana  for 
a  technical  violation  of  the  customs  regulations  (March,  1854), 
the  President  threatened  war. 

While  this  question  was  pending,  Soule,  Buchanan,  minister 
to  England,  and  Mason,  minister  to  France,  were  ordered  to 
confer  in  Belgium,  and  they  drew  up  the  "  Ostend  Manifesto  " 
(October  18,  1854),  which  is  an  open  and  unblushing  avowal 
of  the  doctrine  that  might  makes  right,  and  that  Cuba  must  be 
annexed  in  order  to  protect  slavery.  This  remarkable  docu- 
ment says  that  if  Spain  refuses  to  sell  Cuba  for  a  fair  price, 
"then  by  every  law,  human  and  divine,  we  shall  be  justi- 
fied in  wresting  it  from  Spain  if  we  possess  the  power"  lest 
"we  permit  Cuba  to  be  Africanized."  Marcy's  influence  at 
last  prevailed,  and  the  United  States  accepted  a  settlement 
of  the  Black  Warrior  difficulty  (February,  1855),  so  that  no 
excuse  for  war  remained. 

Perhaps  the  main  reason  for  holding  back  from  Cuba  was 

«««   „  the  storm  that  burst  on  the  administration  because  of  its 

330.  Ste- 
phen A.         action  on  the  Nebraska  question.     After  1820  the  region 

Douglas,        wegt  Q£  ^  ]V[issouri  River  remained  without  a  territorial 

tne  far 

westerner      government,  for  it  had  no  white  population  till  the  over- 


FORESHADOWING  OF   CIVIL    WAR   (1853-1859) 


385 


Cartoon  on  the  Ostend  Manifesto. 
Published  as  a  broadside,  1856. 

land  travel  to  California  began  in  1849.  Senator  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  of  Illinois,  chairman  of  the  committee  on  terri- 
tories, introduced  a  bill  for  the  organization  of  Nebraska 
Territory  (January  4, 1854),  accompanied  with  a  long  argument 
to  show  that  slavery  would  be  legal  there,  because  the  Com- 
promise of  1820,  applying  to  that  region,  had  been  set  aside 
by  the  Compromise  of  1850.  After  various  twists  and  turns 
Douglas  incorporated  into  his  bill  the  clear  statement  that 
the  clause  of  the  Missouri  Act  of  1820,  which  forbade  slavery  in 
certain  territory,  "is  hereby  declared  inoperative  and  void." 
To  support  this  disturbing  principle,  Douglas  reinvented  the 
doctrine  of  "  popular  sovereignty,"  or  "  squatter  sovereignty," 
namely,  that  the  people  of  a  territory  had  the  same  right  to 
legislate 'on  local  affairs,  including  slavery,  as  the  people  of 
the  states. 

hart's  amer.  hist.  —  23 


386 


SECTIONALISM 


In  this  controversy  Douglas  represented  a  strong  influence 
which  eastern  men  did  not  understand.  Born  in  Vermont  in 
1813,  he  early  went  to  Illinois,  where  he  held  various  state 
offices,  including  that  of  judge  of  the  supreme  court.  In  1847 
he  was  sent  from  Illinois  to  the  Senate,  and  there  represented 
those  crude,  boisterous,  but  determined  political  forces  which 
had  earlier  made  Jackson  President.  He  came  from  a  constitu- 
ency which  was  accus- 
tomed to  care  for  itself, 
and  which  therefore 
thought  it  as  reason- 
able that  the  people  of 
a  territory  should  settle 
the  question  of  slavery 
as  that  they  should 
settle  the  question  of 
schools.  Later  in  life 
he  made  the  significant 
admission  that  he  "  did 
not  care  whether  slav- 
ery was  voted  down  or 
voted  up  "  ;  but  he  was 
intensely  ambitious, 
and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  he  looked  forward 
to  the  next  presidential  election,  and  hoped  to  convince  the 
southern  Democrats  that  he  was  at  the  same  time  safe  and 
powerful. 

Of  all  American  public  men,  Douglas  was  the  fiercest  debater. 
Though  a  short  man,  he  had  a  big  voice  which  poured  forth 
anything  that  came  into  his  mind,  especially  a  coarse  and 
effective  personal  abuse  of  those  who  opposed  him.  He  was 
quick,  forcible,  and  undaunted,  and  never  much  concerned 
himself  about  accuracy  or  consistency.      His  main  defect  was 


Stephen  A.  Douglas,  about  1850. 


FORESHADOWING  OF   CIVIL   WAR   (1853-1859)         387 

that  he  could  not  understand  or  measure  the  moral  opposition 
to  slavery. 

The  Nebraska  Bill  infuriated  a  great  part  of  the  northern 
people,  for  no  public  man  had  suggested  in  the  discussion  of 
1850  that  the  compromise  then  passed  applied  anywhere      331.  Kan- 
outside  of   New  Mexico  and  Utah,  or  that  the  Act   of    braska  Bill 
1820  ceased  to  apply  to  the  Louisiana  Purchase.     The  (1854) 

protest  was  expressed  in  a  paper  called  the  Appeal  of  the  In- 
dependent Democrats  (January  16,  1854),  drawn  up  by  Salmon 
P.  Chase,  abolition  senator  from  Ohio,  which  declared  the  bill 
to  be  "part  and  parcel  of  an  atrocious  plot  to  exclude  from 
a  vast  unoccupied  region  immigrants  from  the  old  world  and 
free  laborers  from  our  own  states." 

In  the  course  of  the  discussion  the  new  territory  was  divided 
into  two  territories,  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  showing  a  plain 
expectation  that  Kansas,  which  lay  immediately  west  of  Mis- 
souri, would  become  a  slaveholding  community  to  balance 
California.  In  spite  of  the  bitterest  opposition,  ably  led  by 
Chase,  Douglas  got  37  votes  in  the  Senate  against  14,  and  then 
forced  the  bill  through  the  House  by  108  to  100,  and  arranged 
with  Pierce,  who  signed  the  bill,  May  30,  1854.  Perhaps 
Douglas  began  to  see  his  error  when,  on  the  test  vote  on  the 
Nebraska  Bill  in  the  House,  half  the  northern  Democrats  re- 
fused to  go  with  him ;  and  when  in  the  congressional  election 
in  the  fall  of  1854,  most  of  the  other  half  lost  their  seats. 

The    inevitable    effect    of    the    Kansas-Nebraska   Act    was 
quickly  revealed  when  hundreds  of  Missourians  crossed  over 
into  Kansas   and   entered    up    land    for   farms,   which      332.  Civil 
most  of  them  did  not  mean  to  occupy.     The  challenge  x^asT 

was    accepted     by    several     emigrant     aid     companies,  (1854-1856) 
founded  in  New  England,  which  within  about  three  years  sent 
out  six  thousand  free-state  men,  as  permanent  settlers,  many 
of  them  armed  with  a  new  weapon  of  precision,  the  Sharp's 
rifle.     The  purpose  of  the  Missourian  neighbors  (commonly 


888  SECTIONALISM 

called  "  Border  Ruffians  ")  was  shown  in  the  election  of  March, 
1855,  for  members  of  the  first  territorial  legislature;  2905 
legal  voters  somehow  were  credited  with  6307  votes.  Hundreds 
of  armed  Missourians  came  over  into  Kansas  to  set  up  or  drive 
away  election  officers  at  their  will,  and  thus  elected  a  large 
majority  of  the  legislature.  It  met  (July,  1855)  and  passed 
a  code  of  laws  which  established  slavery,  and  made  it  a  crime 
even  to  assert  that  "  persons  had  not  the  right  to  hold  slaves 
in  this  territory." 

To  protect  themselves  against  this  minority  rule,  the  anti- 
slavery  people  framed  a  state  constitution  at  Topeka  (Novem- 
ber, 1855)  and  attempted  to  set  up  a  government.  The  rival 
settlers  and  neighbors  in  the  spring  of  1856  came  to  civil 
war  in  which  about  two  hundred  lives  were  sacrificed  and  the 
free-state  town  of  Lawrence  was  sacked.  Among  the  most 
reckless  of  the  free-state  people  was  a  man  named  John  Brown, 
who  turned  out  whenever  there  was  a  fight;  and  in  May,  1856, 
he  directed  his  men  to  seize  and  kill  some  proslavery  neighbors 
at  Osawatomie.  President  Pierce  could  not  keep  order,  but 
under  his  direction  the  antislavery  Topeka  legislature  was 
dispersed  by  United  States  troops,  July  4,  1856. 

Both  the  Whig  party  and  the  Democratic  were  rent  in  twain 
by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  and  a  great  political  upheaval 
333.  New      came   in   1854.      An    attempt    was    made    to    form   an 
Republican    American  Party  on  the  principles  of   dislike  of  Catho- 
(1854-1856)  lies   and  distrust   of  foreigners.      It  was  backed  by  a 
powerful   secret   society,   the  "  Supreme    Order   of   the  Star- 
Spangled   Banner " ;    the    members    of    which,   because   they 
always  replied  to  any  question  about  their  society,  "I  know 
nothing   about   it,"  were  commonly  called  "Know-nothings." 
The  Know-nothings    secured  the  state  government  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  extended  even  into  the  southern  states,  and  they 
soon  claimed  more  than  a  million  votes,  but  broke  into  factions 
over  the  slavery  question  in  1856. 


FORESHADOWING   OF   CIVIL   WAR    (1853-1859)         389 

A  stronger  political  combination  was  found  in  a  union  of 
the  Free  Democrats  with  "anti-Nebraska"  Whigs  and  Demo- 
crats. To  this  new  party  in  various  conventions  the  name 
"Republican"  was  given,  perhaps  for  the  first  time  at  Jackson, 
Michigan,  in  July,  1854.  By  all  sorts  of  fusions  and  coalitions 
of  Know-nothings,  Republicans,  Whigs,  and  Democrats,  the 
Anti-Nebraska  people  carried  fifteen  of  the  thirty-one  states  in 
1854,  and  elected  eleven  senators  and  a  small  majority  of  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

In  1856  the  Republicans,  called  by  their  opponents  "  Black 
Republicans,"  girded  themselves  up  for  the  presidential 
election.  Instead  of  nominating  Seward,  their  ablest  man, 
they  put  up  John  C.  Fremont,  who  was  popularly  supposed 
to  have  conquered  California.  To  the  grief  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  the  Democrats  passed  him  over  precisely  because  he 
had  roused  such  opposition  by  helping  the  South  in  his  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill ;  they  nominated  for  the  presidency  James 
Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania. 

An  incident  of  the  presidential  year  was  a  speech  made  by 
Senator  Charles  Sumner  of  Massachusetts,  entitled  "The 
Crime  against  Kansas,"  which  in  coarse  and  violent  language 
assailed  Senator  Butler  of  South  Carolina.  Preston  Brooks, 
representative  from  South  Carolina  and  a  kinsman  of  Butler, 
assaulted  Sumner  in  the  Senate  Chamber  and  beat  him  insen- 
sible. Brooks  was  censured  by  the  House,  resigned,  and  was 
triumphantly  reelected  by  his  constituents;  but  his  brutal  vio- 
lence seemed  to  the  North  an  evidence  of  a  purpose  to  silence 
antislavery  men  in  Congress. 

In  the  election  of  1856  Buchanan  got  174  electoral  votes  to 
114  for  Fremont;  and  the  Republicans  failed  to  secure  the 
House  for  1857-1859.  Yet  Fremont  had  1,300,000  votes 
against  1,800,000  for  Buchanan;  and  carried  every  northern 
state  except  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  and  Illinois. 
Ex-President  Fillmore,  candidate  of  the  Know-nothings  and 


390 


FORESHADOWING   OF   CIVIL    WAR   (1853-1859)         391 

the  remnant  of  the  Whigs,  had  875,000  votes,  but  carried  only 
one  state,  Maryland. 

Since  neither  Congress  nor  the  squatters  proved  capable  of 
settling  the  question  of  territorial  slavery,  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  tried  its  hand,  in  the  case  of  Dred      334.  Dred 
Scott  vs.  Sandford.     Dred  Scott,  the  slave  of  a  Dr.  Emer-  Vision 

son,  was  taken  by  his  owner  in  1834  to  Bock  Island,  Illi-  (1857) 

nois  (within  the  bounds  of  the  old  Northwest  Territory),  in 
1836  to  Fort  Snelling  (in  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  north  of  Mis- 
souri), and  then  brought  back  to  Missouri  (a  slave  state). 
Some  years  afterward  Dred  Scott  sued  for  his  freedom,  on 
the  plea  that  his  master  had  taken  him  to  free  regions. 

After  four  preliminary  suits,  the  case  was  finally  decided  by 
the  federal  Supreme  Court  in  March,  1857,  eight  judges  out  of 
nine  drawing  up  separate  opinions.  Six  judges  united  in  the 
decree  of  the  court  to  the  effect  that  the  Missouri  Act  of  1820 
was  unconstitutional  from  the  first,  because  Congress  had  no 
power  to  regulate  slavery  in  the  territories.  So  far  the  court 
went  along  with  Douglas ;  then  four  judges,  and  perhaps  a 
fifth,  turned  squarely  against  Douglas's  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty,  by  holding  that  nobody  could  prohibit  slavery  in  a 
territory,  because  the  right  of  property  in  a  slave  was  distinctly 
affirmed  in  the  Constitution.  That  is,  the  court,  so  far  as  it 
could,  held  slavery  to  be  a  national  institution,  the  normal 
thing  in  every  territory,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  any  power 
except  a  state  legislature. 

The  Chief  Justice  also  laid  down  the  doctrine,  with  which 
the  majority  of  the  court  appeared  to  concur,  that  free  negroes 
could  not  become  citizens  of  the  United  States,  that  they 
had  never  been  included  in  the  political  community,  and 
that  in  the  minds  of  the  Kevolutionary  fathers  they  "  had  no 
rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect."  This 
and  all  the  other  proslavery  opinions  were  bitterly  contested 
by  Justices  McLean  of  Ohio  and  Curtis  of  Massachusetts,  who 


392  SECTIONALISM 

further  insisted  that  technically  there  was  no  ground  for  any 
decision  whatever.  Dred  Scott  was  left  a  slave,  but  was  im- 
mediately manumitted  by  his  master ;  and  the  decision  was 
so  forced  and  so  contrary  to  historical  facts  that  the  Bepub- 
lican  leaders  declared  that  they  were  not  bound  by  it. 

Notwithstanding  the  excitement  over  the  slavery  question, 
the  questions  which  seemed  at  the  time  most  vital  were  those 
335. Growth  of  daily  business,  and  the  United  States  had  never  been 
merce*  s0  prosperous  as  from  1845  to  1857.     California  gold  fur- 

(1845-1857)  nished  a  new  export  of  specie,  and  breadstuifs  were  in 
great  demand  abroad.  Exports  in  1856  were  nearly  three 
times  as  great  as  in  1846.  To  carry  this  trade  and  that  of 
other  countries,  American  shipping  reached  the  highest  point 
in  our  history  —  3,300,000  tons  in  1860.  These  were  the  days 
of  the  magnificent  clipper  ships,  wooden  sailing  craft  of  un- 
excelled speed  and  handiness,  making  voyages  from  England 
to  New  York  sometimes  in  less  than  fourteen  days,  and  from 
China  to  New  York  in  about  eighty  days. 

Screw  steamers  as  yet  were  mostly  ships  of  war,  but  the 
ocean  paddle  steamers  grew  in  size  and  speed  till  they  could 
cross  the  ocean  in  twelve  days.  In  1847  Congress  granted  a 
subsidy  to  two  lines  of  steamers  :  $850,000  a  year  to  the 
Collins  American  line,  New  York  to  Liverpool ;  and  $200,000 
a  year  to  a  line  from  New  York  to  Bremen.  The  Collins 
line  was  extravagantly  managed,  lost  several  ships,  and  broke 
down  in  1858. 

Internal  communication  advanced  with  equal  strides.  The 
railroad  mileage  in  1840  was  under  3000 ;  in  1850,  9000 ;  in 
1860,  30,000.  Till  1850  there  was  hardly  such  a  thing  as  a 
through  railroad  line,  but  in  1851  the  New  York  and  Erie 
Railroad  was  finished  from  New  York  to  Lake  Erie,  and  in 
1853  a  continuous  chain  of  separate  lines  of  railroad  reached 
Chicago  from  the  east.  In  1859  railroads  from  the  north  and 
east  reached  New  Orleans.     Railroads  now  began  to  be  con- 


FORESHADOWING  OF   CIVIL   WAR    (1853-1859)         393 

solidated  into  systems  by  uniting  them  end  to  end ;  for  ex- 
ample, the  ten  short  connecting  lines  from  Albany  to  Buffalo, 
in  1853,  were  united  under  the  New  York  Central. 

Beginning  with  a  grant  to  the  Illinois  Central  in  1850,  the 
United  States  aided  western  railroads  by  immense  grants  of 
public  lands.  It  was  a  natural  suggestion  that  a  road  might 
be  built  to  the  Pacific  in  the  same  way,  and  Congress  went 
so  far  as  to  send  out  several  exploring  expeditions,  especially 
one  of  1853,  which  surveyed  various  practicable  routes.  Though 
a  railroad  was  built  by  American  capital  across  the  Panama 
Isthmus  and  opened  for  business  in  1858,  the  plans  for  an 
isthmian  canal  still  hung  fire;  the  task  was  too  great  for  pri- 
vate capital ;  and  there  was  a  violent  dispute  over  the  meaning 
of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  till  (1860)  Great  Britain  gave 
up  all  claim  to  a  protectorate  over  territory  near  the  Nica- 
ragua route. 

The  revenues  of  the  government  rose  so  fast  that  a  new 
tariff  was  passed  by  a  non-partisan  vote  (March  3,  1857). 
Every  member  from  Massachusetts  and  every  member  335.  panic 
from  South  Carolina  voted  for  the  bill,  which  decreased  of  1857 
the  existing  low  duties  of  1846  by  about  a  fifth;  and  the  average 
rate  of  duties  was  brought  down  to  about  20  per  cent.  Before 
the  new  tariff  could  have  any  effect,  a  commercial  panic  came 
upon  the  country,  caused  principally  by  the  expenditure  of 
about  $70,000,000  on  railroads  in  ten  years.  The  panic  began 
in  August,  1857,  and  in  October  all  the  banks  in  the  country 
suspended  specie  payment;  many  railroads  failed;  and  first 
and  last  more  than  five  thousand  business  houses  broke, 
with  losses  of  more  than  $150,000,000.  The  federal  govern- 
ment saw  its  annual  revenue  reduced  from  $76,000,000  to 
$46,000,000  ;  and  it  was  obliged  to  issue  treasury  notes  for  its 
expenses.  Still  there  was  no  such  widespread  suffering  and 
no  such  check  to  business  as  after  the  panic  of  1837,  and 
by  1860  business  was  again  normal. 


394 


SECTIONALISM 


(1857-1858) 


Till  the  Pacific  railroad  was  built,  much  of  the  traffic  over- 
land to  California  went  by  wagon  roads  which  passed  through 
337  Mor-      Utah  Territory,  near  Great  Salt  Lake.     This  region  had 
mon rising     been  settled  by  the  Mormons,  who  were  forced  to  aban- 
don JSTauvoo  in  1846.    Under  their  new  prophet,  Brigham 
Young,  they  reached  Great  Salt  Lake  the  next  year,  and  set 
up  what  they  called  the  independent  State  of  Deseret.     Polyg- 
amy was  announced  to  be  a  part  of  the  religious  and  political 
system  of  the  community,  and  to  be  based  on  a  direct  revela- 
tion from  the  Almighty.     To  their  great  disappointment,  the 
Mormons  found  themselves  in  the  United  States  by  the  Mexi- 
can cession  of  1848;    but  when  Utah  Territory  was  created 
in  1850  it  was  thought  expedient  to  make  Brigham  Young 
governor. 


Mormon  Church  Buildings,  Salt  Lake  City. 
Tabernacle,  built  1870;  Temple,  built  1893. 

The  overland  traffic  to  California  disturbed  the  Mormons, 
who  wanted  to  be  let  alone,  and  always  made  trouble  for  their 
federal  officials.  In  1857  Buchanan  appointed  a  new  terri- 
torial governor,  but  Brigham  Young  refused  to  give  up  his 
office,  called  out  armed  men,  and  when  1500  troops  were  sent, 
forbade  them  to  come  into  the  territory.     During  the  follow- 


FORESHADOWING   OF   CIVIL   WAR    (1853-1859)         395 

•ing  winter  the  Mormons  captured  the  supply  trains  of  the 
troops  and  tried  to  starve  them  out.  When  the  government 
proposed  to  send  out  a  large  force  the  Mormons  yielded  sul- 
lenly ;  but  they  kept  up  their  religious  organization,  like  an  in- 
dependent state,  and  it  was  more  than  thirty  years  before  the 
laws  of  Congress  against  polygamy  were  executed  among  them. 

The  danger  point  in  American  politics  was  still  in  Kansas, 
where  a  proslavery  convention  at  Lecompton  prepared  a  con- 
stitution (November,  1857).     President  Buchanan  prom-         338.  Le- 
ised  that  the  work  of  the  convention  should  be  submitted        constitu1 
to  popular  vote;  but  the  convention  provided  that  the    tion  (1858) 
voters  might  cast  their  ballots  for  "  Constitution  with  Slav- 
ery "    (i.e.    with   a    separate    article    distinctly    establishing 
slavery),  or  for  u  Constitution  with  no  Slavery,"  which  left  in 
bondage  slaves  then  in  the  territory,  and  forbade  free  negroes 
to  live  in  the  state. 

At  an  election  under  proslavery  authority,  6063  votes  were 
counted  for  "  Constitution  with  Slavery  "  and  576  for  "  Con- 
stitution with  no  Slavery."  But  the  free-state  men  now 
secured  control  of  the  legislature,  which  ordered  a  second 
election,  at  which  the  vote  was,  for  "Constitution  with  Slav- 
ery," 138;  for  "Constitution  with  no  Slavery,"  24;  against 
the  Constitution  altogether,  10,226.  A  plan  to  admit  the 
state  under  the  discredited  Lecompton  constitution,  against 
the  will  of  the  majority,  was  warmly  supported  by  Buchanan, 
but  was  frustrated  by  Douglas,  who  could  not  abjure  his  own 
doctrine  of  squatter  sovereignty,  that  the  people  of  a  territory 
ought  to  govern  themselves.  Under  a  compromise  act  called 
the  English  Bill  (May  14,  1858),  the  Lecompton  constitution 
was  sent  back  to  the  people  of  Kansas,  with  a  splendid  offer 
of  public  lands  if  they  would  vote  to  accept  statehood  under  it. 
On  the  final  test  vote  the  people  of  Kansas  by  a  decisive 
majority  of  9500  rejected  the  attempt  to  make  them  a  slave 
state  against  their  will,  and  remained  a  territory  till  1861. 


396  SECTIONALISM 

In  opposing  the  Lecompton  constitution,  Douglas  undoubt- 
edly remembered  that  his  term  in  the  Senate  was  about  to 
339.  Rise  of   expire,   and  that  the    legislature    chosen   in   Illinois   in 
Lincoln  -^58  would  elect  to  the  vacancy.     As  a  rival  claimant  to 

(1809-1858)    the  seat,  came  forward  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  wrote  up 
his  autobiography  as  follows  :  — - 

"  Born,  February  12,  1809,  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky ; 

"  Education  defective ; 

"  Profession  a  lawyer ; 

"Have  been  a  captain  of  volunteers  in  the  Black  Hawk 
War; 

"Postmaster  at  a  very  small  office; 

"Four  times  a  member  of  Illinois  Legislature  ; 

"  And  was  a  member  of  the  lower  house  of  Congress." 

Lincoln  rose  steadily  from  the  squalor  of  a  poor  white 
family  living  in  Kentucky,  Indiana,  and  Illinois.  After  try- 
ing surveying  and  storekeeping,  in  which  he  made  a  flat 
failure,  he  studied  law,  went  to  the  legislature,  was  an  early 
Whig,  and  became  known  throughout  the  state  for  his  good 
stories,  homely  sayings,  and  honest  attention  to  the  cases  in- 
trusted to  him.  In  1841  he  had  his  first  sight  of  slaves,  and 
he  called  slavery  "a  thing  which  has,  and  continually  exer- 
cises, the  power  of  making  me  miserable."  From  1847  to 
1849  he  sat  in  Congress. 

When  the  Kansas-Nebraska  question  arose,  Lincoln  came  out 
firmly  for  the  anti-Nebraska  cause.  In  1855  he  was  all  but 
elected  Bepublican  senator  from  Illinois ;  in  1858  he  was  des- 
ignated by  the  Illinois  Bepublican  convention  as  their  candi- 
date for  the  senatorship,  and  accepted  in  a  magnificent  speech, 
of  which  the  text  was :  "  A  house  divided  against  itself  can 
not  stand.  I  believe  this  government  can  not  endure  perma- 
nently half  slave  and  half  free." 

He  next  took  the  bold  step  of  challenging  Douglas,  the  most 
effective   stump   orator  in   the   country,  to  a  series   of  joint 


FORESHADOWING   OF   CIVIL   WAR    (1853-1859)         397 

debates.    Before  tremendous  audiences  his  eloquence  and  power 
caused  people  to  forget  his  personal  awkwardness.     Douglas 
tried  to  turn  the  question  into  a  personal  controversy,      340.    Lin- 
and  he  accused  Lincoln  of  seeking  the  social  equality  of     ^debate 
the  negro,  to  which  Lincoln  memorably  replied:  "In  the  (1858) 

right  to  eat  the  bread  without  the  leave  of  anybody  else,  which 
his  own  hand  earns,  he  is  my  equal,  and  the  equal  of  Judge 
Douglas,  and  the  equal  of  every  living  man." 

The  culmination  of  the  debate  was  reached  at  Freeport. 
When  Lincoln  put  the  question  whether  the  people  of  a  terri- 
tory (i.e.  Kansas)  in  any  lawful  way  could  prohibit  slavery, 
Douglas's  reply,  commonly  called  the  "Freeport  Doctrine,'' 
was  that  the  people  of  a  territory  could  prevent  slavery  by 
"unfriendly  legislation";  that  is,  Lincoln  compelled  him  to 
stand  by  his  squatter  sovereignty,  and  to  ignore  the  Dred 
Scott  decision.  The  answer  so  far  satisfied  Douglas's  constit- 
uents that  he  secured  a  small  majority  of  the  Illinois  legisla- 
ture and  was  reelected  to  the  Senate ;  but  when  he  went  back 
to  Washington,  he  found  that  his  party  colleagues  were  against 
him.  Lincoln  had  practically  obliged  Douglas  to  break  with 
the  southern  Democrats,  who  controlled  the  party  organization. 

The  most  striking  event  of  the  year  1859  was  the  attempt 
of  John  Brown,  already  known  in  Kansas,  to  arouse  a  slave 
insurrection.     His  plan  was  to  establish  a  camp  for  run-      341   john 
away  negroes  in  the  southern  mountains.      He  secured  Brown  raid 
money   and    counsel  from  some  New  England   friends, 
recruited  twenty-two  men,  and  hired  a  farm  in  the  Maryland 
mountains  near  the  town  of  Harpers  Ferry.      He  descended 
upon   that   place   October  16,   and  seized  the    United  States 
arsenal,  which  had  no  guard,  sent  out  parties  to  capture  some 
of  the   white   planters,   and   tried   to  rouse   the   neighboring 
slaves,  who  were  expected  to  carry  off  a  quantity  of  the  arms. 
The  next  day  the  whole  countryside  was  in  an  uproar;  the 
negroes  did  not  rise,  and  Brown  hesitated  until  too   late   to 


398 


SECTIONALISM 


escape;  the  engine  house  in  which  he  had  fortified  himself  was 
finally  taken  by  United  States  marines,  under  Colonel  Robert 
E.  Lee;  Brown  was  wounded  and  captured,  and  ten  of  his 
men  (including  a  son)  were  killed,  and  five  of  his  assailants. 

It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  Virginia  that  this  intractable 
man  had  a  fair  and  open  trial.     He  was  duly  convicted  of 

murder  and  treason  against 
the  Commonwealth  of  Vir- 
ginia. He  met  his  death  like 
a  hero,  and  won  the  respect 
of  his  jailers  and  southern 
visitors ;  he  never  had  the 
slightest  feeling  of  remorse 
or  guilt.  In  his  last  letter 
to  his  family  he  solemnly 
said,  "  John  Brown  writes  to 
his  children  to  abhor,  with 
undying  hatred  also,  that 
sum  of  all  villanies,  slavery." 
Moderate  northern  people  ex- 
John  Brown  in  1859.  pressed   their  condemnation 

of  Brown's  methods,  but  could  not  help  admiring  his  heroic- 
spirit;  and  John  Brown  probably  did  more  than  any  othc 
man  to  convince  the  South  that  slavery  was  no  longer  safe 
within  the  federal  Union ;  for  he  showed  that  there  were 
abolitionists  who  were  perfectly  willing  to  sacrifice  their 
own  lives  to  free  other  people's  slaves. 


The  six  years  from  1853  to  1859  showed  that  slavery  was 

a  disturbing  influence  which  could  not  be  quieted  or  removed. 

342.  Sum-     For  the  sake  of  slavery,  attempts  were  made  to  annex 

mary  Cuba,  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  was  passed,  rival  parties 

were  allowed  to  wage  civil  war  in  Kansas,  the  Supreme  Court 

tried  to  establish  a  new  principle  in  the  territories,  and  Bu- 


FORESHADOWING   OF   CIVIL    WAR    (1853-1859)  399 

chanan  and  his  friends  attempted  to  force  a  proslavery  con- 
stitution upon  the  people  of  Kansas. 

From  1853  to  1859  the  antislavery  people  took  the  offensive 
in  politics.  Their  national  antislavery  ticket  almost  won  the 
election  of  1856 ;  they  attacked  Douglas  through  a  new  cham- 
pion, Abraham  Lincoln,  and  compelled  him  in  1858  to  break 
with  many  of  his  party  associates.  Then  a  few  of  the  most 
extreme  abolitionists  tried  to  show  how  vulnerable  slavery 
was  by  encouraging  the   John  Brown  raid. 

After  six  years  of  struggle  nothing  was  decided :  Cuba  was 
not  annexed  ;  Kansas  was  not  a  slave  state ;  the  Dred  Scott 
decision  was  openly  defied  by  the  Republicans.  The  only 
thing  clear  was  that  this  fierce  controversy  was  driving  the 
two  sections  further  and  further  apart,  that  they  distrusted 
each  other  more  and  more;  and  that  neither  President  nor 
Congress  nor  Supreme  Court  could  suggest  any  middle  view 
on  the  subject  of  slavery  which  would  satisfy  both  North  and 
South. 

TOPICS 

(1)  What  was  the  objection  to  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  Suggestive 
of  Columbia  ?  (2)  Why  did  President  Pierce  want  to  annex  opics 
Cuba  ?  (3)  Why  did  the  Mormons  go  out  to  Utah  ?  (4)  Did  the 
Compromise  of  1850  set  aside  the  Missouri  Act  of  1820  ?  (5)  The 
Know-nothing  party.  (6)  Why  was  not  Seward  nominated  by 
the  Republicans  in  1856  ?  (7)  Why  did  the  Mormons  give  way  in 
1858  ?  (8)  Evidence  that  Buchanan  promised  that  the  Lecompton 
constitution  should  be  submitted  to  a  popular  vote.  (9)  Why 
did  Lincoln  compel  Douglas  to  announce  his  Freeport  Doctrine  ? 
(10)  How  did  the  Freeport  Doctrine  conflict  with  the  Dred  Scott 
decision?  (11)  Was  John  Brown  justified  in  inciting  a  slave 
insurrection  ? 

(12)    Propositions    to    reopen    the   slave    trade   in   the   fifties.    Search 
(13)  The  Ostend  Manifesto  of  1854.     (14)   Who  first  put  forth  the    toPics 
principle  of  popular  sovereignty  ?     (15)  Appeal  of  the  Independent 
Democrats.     (16)    Why   did   the   Kansas-Nebraska   Bill  pass  the 
Senate?     (17)   Origin  of  the  emigrant  aid  companies.     (18)   The 
Border  Ruffians.     (10)   Was  John  Brown  justified  in  killing  the 


400 


SECTIONALISM 


Shermans  and  Doyles  ?  (20)  Origin  of  the  name,  "  Republican 
Party."  (21)  Why  was  Buchanan  nominated  by  the  Democrats  in 
1856  ?  (22)  Why  was  a  new  tariff  act  passed  in  1857  ?  (23)  Had 
negroes  in  1776  "no  rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to 
respect"?  (24)  A  railroad  journey  in  the  fifties.  (25)  The 
Panama  railroad.  (26)  Was  the  Lecompton  constitution  in  itself 
a  bad  constitution  ?  (27)  Lincoln's  early  life.  (28)  Lincoln's 
early  opinions  on  slavery.  (29)  Interesting  things  in  the  Lincoln- 
Douglas  debate.     (30)  John  Brown's  trial. 

REFERENCES 


Geography 


Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


See  maps,  pp.  390,  324,  325;  Smith,  Slavery  and  Political 
Parties. 

Wilson,  Division  and  Beunion,  §§  90-100  ;  Johnston,  Politics, 
167-189 ;  Stanwood,  Presidency,  258-278 ;  Smith,  Slavery  and 
Political  Parties ;  Schouler,  United  States,  V.  270-454  ;  Rhodes, 
United  States,  I.  384-506,  II.  1-416  ;  Macy,  Political  Parties,  183- 
282  ;  Smith,  Liberty  and  Free-soil  Parties,  261-307  ;  Curtis,  Con- 
stitutional History,  II.  259-285,  295-299  ;  Spring,  Kansas  ;  Brown, 
Lower  South,  50-82,  —  S.  A.  Douglas,  82-128  ;  Dewey,  Financial 
History,  §§  110-115;  Taussig,  Tariff  History,  115-154;  Hart, 
Foundations  of  American  Foreign  Policy,  108-127  ;  Foster,  Cen- 
tury of  Diplomacy,  335-356 ;  Latane,  United  States  and  Spanish 
America,  116-136,  194-198  ;  Morse,  Abraham  Lincoln,  I.  93-160 ; 
Bancroft,  W.  H  Seward,  I.  333-519 ;  Hart,  S.  P.  Chase,  132-177  ; 
Storey,  Charles  Sumner,  101-164  ;   Chamberlin,  John  Brown. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  108-112,  —  Contemporaries,  IV.  §§  34- 
48,  —  Source  Beaders,  IV.  §  17  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Documents, 
nos.  85-92  ;  American  History  Leaflets,  nos.  2,  17,  23 ;  Old  South 
Leaflets,  nos.  80,  83-85  ;  Hill,  Liberty  Documents,  ch.  xxi.  ;  John- 
ston, American  Orations,  III.  3-207 ;  Sanborn,  John  Brown ; 
Helper,  Impending  Crisis.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n, 
Syllabus,  350-353,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  86. 

Whittier,  Antislavery  Poems,  176-213, — Brown  of  Ossawat- 
omie  ;  Stedman,  How  Old  Brown  took  Harper's  Ferry ;  A.  W. 
Tourgee,  Hot  Plowshares  (antislavery)  ;  Theodore  Winthrop, 
John  Brent  (Far  West,  Mormons)  ;  Arthur  Paterson,  For  Free- 
dom's Sake  (Kan.)  ;  A.  E.  Orpen,  Jay- Hawkers ;  Noah  Brooks, 
Boy  Settlers  (Kan.)  ;  G.  H.  Derby  ("John  Phoenix"),  Phcenixi- 
ana  (Cal.). 

Wilson,  American  People,  IV.;  Sparks,  Expansion. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

THE   CRISIS    (1859-1861) 

The  Republicans  had  a  small  majority  in  the  House  of 

Representatives  from  1859  to  1861 ;  and  would  have  elected 

John  Sherman  of  Ohio  to  be  Speaker,  but  that  he  had     343  issue 

signed  a  circular  approving  a  book  called  The  Impending        between 

North,  and 
Crisis,  which  was  written  by  a  poor  white  named  Helper,  South 

to  show  that   slavery  was  contrary  to  the  interests  of  (1859-1860) 

whites  in  the  South  who  owned  no  slaves;    hence  Sherman 

was  thought  radical. 

The  Senate  was  strongly  proslavery;  and  Jefferson  Davis 
of  Mississippi,  leader  of  the  extremists,  introduced  a  series  of 
resolutions  (February  2,  1860),  which  were  intended  to  formu- 
late the  position  of  the  South:  (1)  that  Douglas's  Freeport 
Doctrine  was  unsound ;  (2)  that  Congress  should  interfere,  if 
necessary,  to  protect  slavery,  thus  going  beyond  the  Dred 
Scott  decision ;  (3)  that  the  northern  states  should  stop  public 
agitation  by  the  abolitionists ;  (4)  that  the  states  were  sov- 
ereign. In  effect,  these  resolutions,  which  passed  the  Senate 
by  35  to  21  votes,  gave  notice  that  the  election  of  a  President 
who  opposed  those  principles  might  be  made  an  excuse  for 
breaking  up  the  Union. 

The  whole  country  watched  with  anxiety  the  regular  Dem- 
ocratic convention  which  met  at  Charleston  in  April,  1860. 
Douglas  had  a  majority  of  the  delegates,  but  the  south-      344.  Elec- 
erners  insisted  that  he  should  accept  a  platform  which  tionof  186° 
was  substantially  the  Davis  resolutions.     Douglas  was  willing 
to   pledge   himself   to  "abide   by   the   decisions   of   the   Su- 

401 


402 


CIVIL   WAR 


preme  Court ";  but  he  could  not  promise  to  vote  for  forcing 
slavery  into  an  unwilling  territory.  On  that  small  difference 
the  convention  split;  the  delegates  of  most  of  the  southern 
states  withdrew,  and  the  convention  adjourned  after  fifty- 
seven  ineffectual  ballots.  It  reconvened  at  Baltimore  in  June, 
and,  after  another  split,  Douglas  was  there  nominated,  on  the 
platform  proposed  by  his  friends  at  Charleston.  The  southern 
bolters  met  separately  and  nominated  John  C.  Breckinridge, 
then  Vice  President  of  the  United  States. 


-Jmm 


PROGRESSIVE   OEMOCRACYPROSPECT  OF  A  SMASH   UP 


Election  Cartoon  of  1860. 


Many  of  the  old  southern  Whigs,  and.  the  northern  Whigs 
who  had  not  become  Republicans,  united  in  what  they  called 
the  Constitutional  Union  party,  and  nominated  John  Bell  of 
Tennessee,  on  the  brief  platform,  "  The  Constitution  of  the 
country,  the  union  of  the  States,  and  the  enforcement  of  the 
laws." 

The  Republican  convention  met  in  Chicago  (May  16,  1860), 
in  an  immense  hall,  with  thousands  of  spectators.  It  was  gen- 
erally expected  that  Seward  would  be  nominated,  for  he  had 


THE   CRISIS   (1859-1801) 


403 


shown  his  antislavery  spirit  by  declaring  that  slavery  caused 
an  "  irrepressible  conflict,"  and  he  had  an  enthusiastic  dele- 
gation from  New  York,  and  scores  of  other  supporters.  But 
Seward  was  thought  too  radical :  what  was  wanted ,  was  a 
moderate  western  man  who  could  carry  the  doubtful  states  of 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois.  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  the  most  available  among  such  men;  and  on  the  third 
ballot  he  was  nominated. 


-~c 


35      -Y3< 


\  23    .       8;w3 


Numbers  indicate 
electoral  votes. 


— *m 

Lincoln  and  Hamlin  kM%-~- 

%j  Breckinridge  and  Lane  ^ 

k-M^    Douglas  and  Johnson 
iflffl  Bell  and  Everett 


The  Election  of  1860. 

The  campaign  was  fierce  and  exciting.  For  the  first  time 
semimilitary  companies  were  organized  to  parade  and  carry 
torches.  On  election  day  (November  6),  180  Lincoln  electors 
were  chosen  against  72  for  Breckinridge,  39  for  Bell,  and  12 
(Missouri  and  a  part  of  New  Jersey)  for  Douglas.  Out  of  the 
popular  vote,  Lincoln  had  about  1,900,000  against  1,400,000  for 
Douglas,  850,000  for  Breckinridge,  and  600,000  for  Bell.  Yet 
if  his  opponents  had  concentrated  on  any  two,  or  any  one,  of 
the  other  candidates,  the  result  would  have  been  the  same ;  for 
the  Eepublicans  had  a  majority  in  every  northern  state  except 
New  Jersey,  California,  and  Oregon. 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 24 


404  CIVIL   WAR 

During  the  campaign  of  1860  it  was  freely  predicted  that 
the   election   of   Lincoln  would  lead   to  secession.     To  most 

345.  Seces-  northern  men  the  threat  seemed  preposterous,  for  theelec- 
South  Caro-  ^on  °^  ki1100!11  did  not  carry  with  it  directly  the  Supreme 
lina  (1860)     Court,  or  the  Senate,  or  even  the  House  which  was  chosen 

to  sit  from  1861  to  1863.  Nevertheless,  on  the  day  after  the 
national  election,  the  South  Carolina  legislature  took  steps 
toward  calling  a  secession  convention ;  and  within  a  few  days 
the  principal  federal  officers  in  South  Carolina,  including  the 
two  United  States  senators,  resigned  their  offices.  Hardly  a 
Union  man  could  be  found  in  the  whole  state ;  not  one  was 
elected  to  the  convention. 

During  the  next  seven  weeks  South  Carolina  was  in  turmoil ; 
federal  buildings  and  supplies  were  seized ;  companies  of  men 
were  drilled;  eager  conferences  were  held  with  people  from 
the  neighboring  states ;  and  the  excitement  culminated  when 
the  secession  convention  assembled  at  Columbia,  adjourned 
to  Charleston,  and  on  December  20, 1860,  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
passed  an  ordinance  declaring  that  South  Carolina  was  no 
longer  a  part  of  the  Union.  A  member  of  the  convention 
said,  "  We  have  carried  the  body  of  this  Union  to  its  last 
resting  place,  and  now  we  will  drop  the  flag  over  its  grave." 

In  this  awful  crisis  of  secession,  the  country  hardly  had  a 
President.     Buchanan  had  long  stood  on  the   same   political 

346.  Presi-  ground  as  the  radical  southerners  who  were  seceding, 
dentBu-        an(j  ne  called  in  Jefferson  Davis  to  advise  him.     The 

ell  RTlcLn '  s 

policy  President's    message    to   Congress,  December   3,   1860, 

(1860-1861)  was   a  helpless  document :    he  laid   all   the  trouble  to 

"the  incessant  and  violent  agitation  of  the  slavery  question 

throughout  the  North  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century."     As 

for    secession,    Seward  neatly   summed    up  the    message   as 

Nicolay         follows :    "  The   President  has  conclusively  proved  two 

^Lincohiil.    things  :  0-)  ^at  no  state  nas  a  right  to  secede  unless 

37i  it  wishes  to ;  and  (2)  that  it  is  the  President's  duty  to 


THE   CRISIS    (1859-1861) 


405 


enforce  the  laws  unless  somebody  opposes  him."  A  few  days 
later  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  State,  resigned  because  he 
thought  the  President  was  not  doing  his  duty. 

After  secession,  the  South  Carolina  government  immediately 
demanded  the  surrender  of  the  forts  within  its  borders  ;  and 
while    the    question    was 
pending,  Major  Anderson, 
in  command  of  the  scanty 
force  in  Charleston  harbor, 
moved  his  troops  (Decem- 
ber 26)  from  the  exposed 
Fort    Moultrie    into    the 
strong,  isolated  Fort  Sum- 
ter.    Floyd,  Secretary  of 
War,  and  Anderson's  im- 
mediate superior,  insisted 
that  he    should   give   up 
Fort    Sumter.      Jeremiah 
Black,  Secretary  of  State,  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who  had 
just  entered  the  Cabinet,  declared  that  in  that  case  they  would 
resign.     "  You  don't  give  me  any  time  to  say  my  prayers," 
said  Buchanan;  "I  always  say  my  prayers  when  required      Fort  Sum- 
to  act  upon  any  great  state   affairs."     In   the  end   he  ter,i98 
yielded  to  his  northern  advisers,  and  Anderson  was  left  in  Fort 
Sumter.     From  that  time  to  the  end  of  his  administration, 
Buchanan  had  no  longer  any  will  or  force  of  his  own. 

As  had  been  planned  beforehand,  conventions  specially  cho- 
sen for  that  purpose  by  six  other  states,  between  January  9  and 
February  1,  followed  the  example  set  by  South  Carolina.     347.  Seces- 
In  most  of  them,  before  secession,  all  the  United  States    Gulf  states 
mints,  posts,  arsenals,  forts,  public  buildings,  and  public  (1861) 

property  were  seized,  except  Fort  Pickens,  below  Pensacola, 
Key  West  and  the  Dry  Tortugas  on  detached  islands,  and 
Fort  Sumter  in  the   harbor   of   Charleston.      (1)  Mississippi 


Charleston  Harbor. 


406  CIVIL    WAR 

seceded  by  a  vote  of  84  to  15.  (2)  Florida  seceded  by  a  vote 
of  62  to  7.  (3)  In  Alabama  the  "  submissionists  "  and  "coop- 
erationists  "  both  opposed  immediate  secession,  bnt  it  was  voted 
by  61  to  39.  (4)  In  Georgia  alone  was  there  a  powerful  open 
opposition,  but  it  seceded  by  a  test  vote  of  165  to  130.  (5)  Lou- 
isiana was  enriched  by  the  down-river  trade  of  the  Northwest, 
and  long  hesitated;  but  seceded  by  a  vote  of  113  to  17.  (6)  In 
Texas,  Governor  Sam  Houston  set  himself  strongly  against 
secession,  but  a  convention  was  unofficially  called,  and  the 
state  seceded  by  166  to  7. 

The  next  step  was  to  combine  the  seceded  states  into  a 
.union.  In  February,  1861,  a  convention  of  delegates  from  six 
states  met  at  Montgomery,  drew  up  a  "  provisional  constitu- 
tion "  for  "  The  Confederate  States  of  America,"  and  elected 
Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi  President  of  the  new  Confeder- 
acy, and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Georgia  Vice  President. 
A  Cabinet  was  duly  appointed  by  President  Davis,  and  a  pro- 
visional Congress  was  shortly  elected  and  sat  for  a  year. 

Secession  was  defended  by  southern  conventions  and  public 
men  substantially  on  the  following  grounds  :  — 
348    South-       (1)  That   the  North  was   bent  on  making  money  for 
em  griev-      itself,  and  was  no  longer  interested  in  the  general  welfare 

£LI1C6S 

of  the  Union.  The  charge  was  later  made  that  the  tariff 
discriminated  against  the  South  ;  but  in  the  discussions  of  1860 
the  South  made  no  complaint  of  the  existing  tariff  of  1857. 

(2)  That  the  North  misinterpreted  the  Constitution,  and 
would  not  admit  the  doctrine  of  state  rights  and  secession ; 
that  the  Republicans  were  even  opposed  to  the  Dred  Scott 
decision,  and  meant  to  overturn  it;  and  that  by  the  personal 
liberty  laws  the  northern  states  defied  their  constitutional 
obligations. 

(3)  That  the  North  hated  slavery,  insisted  on  discussing  it, 
and  allowed  abolition  meetings  and  newspapers  publicly  to 
speak    abusively  of  the  slaveholders;  and  that  the  northern 


THE   CRISIS    (1859-1861)  407 

people  approved  of  John   Brown's  attempt  to  cause  a  slave 
insurrection. 

(4)  That  the  growth  of  slavery  was  checked,  because  the 
North  was  determined  not  to  admit  any  more  slave  states,  nor 
to  annex  any  more  slaveholding  territory,  and  was  trying  to 
draw  a  "  cordon  of  free  states "  around  the  South,  and  thus 
slowly  to  strangle  slavery. 

(5)  That  the  election  of  Lincoln  was  an  act  of  hostility,  a 
sectional  victory,  which  meant  an  attack  on  slavery  in  the 
states. 

In  this  list  the  main  and  the  deciding  grievance  is  in  essence 
that  the  North  disliked  slavery,  wanted  to  check  it,  and 
allowed  people  to  discuss  it.  As  Robert  Toombs  of  Georgia 
put  it,  "  What  is  wanted,  is  that  the  North  shall  call  slavery 
right."  It  is  also  true  that  by  the  admission  of  Minnesota  in 
1858,  Oregon  in  1859,  and  Kansas  in  1861,  the  number  of  free 
states  was  raised  to  19,  as  against  15  slaveholding  states. 

A  feeling  of  injury  and  wrath  was  also  widespread  in  the 
North,  for  grievances  expressed  substantially  as  follows :  — 

(1)  That  the  Southerners  had  for  years  been  forcing  the    349  Qriev 
annexation  of  territory,  in  order  to  strengthen  slavery,     ances  of  the 

(2)  That  the  South  had  arrogantly  attempted  to  sup- 
press free  speech  in  the  northern  states ;  and  even  in  Congress 
had  attempted  to  intimidate  John  Quincy  Adams,  Joshua  R. 
Giddings,  and  Charles  Sumner. 

(3)  That  by  the  South  Carolina  negro  seamen  act  of  1820 
and  other  statutes  against  the  movement  of  free  negroes,  the 
southern  states  violated  rights  of  northern  negro  citizens 
which  were  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution. 

(4)  That  the  Kansas  episode  showed  a  determination  by 
fraud  and  violence  to  foist  a  slavery  constitution  on  the  people 
of  a  practically  free  territory. 

(5)  That  the  slave  power  had  ever  since  1829  practically 
controlled  the  Supreme  Court,  the  Senate,  the  presidency,  and 


408  CIVIL   WAR 

the  House  (except  for  two  Congresses),  and  now  wanted  to 
leave  the  Union  when  the  other  people  began  to  get  control. 

(6)  That  the  South  entertained  doctrines  of  secession  which 
were  contrary  to  the  Constitution  and  destructive  to  the  Union. 

The  southern  theory  of  secession  was  that  it  was  not  war, 
but  a  constitutional,  expedient,  and  practical  method  of  set- 

350.  The        tling  the  controversy  between  the  sections  :  — 
fo?sece^-  CO    "^e  constitutionality  of  secession  was  accepted  by 
sion               most  southern  public  men,  and  by  some  in  the  North. 

Once  admit  that  the  states  were  sovereign  and  the  Constitu- 
tion only  a  compact  among  them,  and  any  state  was  undoubt- 
edly entitled  to  leave  the  Union  when  it  felt  disaffected. 

(2)  The  expediency  of  secession  depended  on  the  ultimate 
purpose  of  the  secessionists.  A  few  of  them  wanted  to  go 
out  of  the  Union,  so  as  to  put  a  pressure  on  the  North  to 
readmit  them  on  such  terms  as  they  might  dictate ;  but  Davis 
and  other  leaders  from  the  first  intended  to  form  a  permanent 
southern  government ;  and  they  confidently  expected  all  the 
slave  states  to  join  them. 

(3)  Secession  as  a  constitutional  or  a  peaceful  remedy  was 
"  practicable  "  only  if  it  did  not  lead  to  war.  Most  southern 
leaders  thought  the  North  would  not  fight ;  others  foresaw  a 
long  war,  but  were  sure  that  the  South  would  be  successful  in 
the  end. 

Were  there  no  Union  men  in  the  South  ?  There  were  thou- 
sands.    A   few   were   permanent    Union  men,    such    as   Sam 

351.  South-  Houston,  or  James  L.  Petigru,  who  marched  out  of  St. 
men  U  Michael's  Church,  in  Charleston,  when  prayers  were  first 
(1860-1861)  offered  for  the  President  of  the  Confederacy;  but  most 

of  them,  like  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  yielded  when  their 
states  seceded.  Stephens,  born  in  1812,  educated  in  North 
Carolina,  entered  Congress  as  a  Whig  in  1843.  Though 
little,  and  boyish  in  appearance,  he  was  soon  recognized  as 
one  of  the  strongest  men  in  Congress.     When  the  crisis  of 


THE  CRISIS   (1859-1861)  409 

1861  came,  Stephens  headed  the  opposition  to  the  secession 

of  his  state,  Georgia.     He  urged  that  the  southern  people  had 

not  been  entirely  blameless,  and  that  the  only  real  ground  for 

secession  was  the  personal  liberty  laws,  which  would  probably 

be  withdrawn  if  a  proper  effort  were  made.     When  the  Georgia 

convention  declared  for  secession,  Stephens  announced  that  he 

would  go  with  his  state ;  and  later  made  a  famous  speech 

.  ,  .  Hart, 

in  which  he  said  of  the  Confederate  constitution  :    "  Its  Source 

foundations  are  laid,  its  corner-stone  rests  upon  the  great       B°°k> 297 

truth,  that  the  negro  is  not   equal  to  the  white  man;    that 

slavery  ...  is  his  natural  and  normal  condition." 

As  soon  as  the  temper  of  the  South  was  understood,  three 

desperate  efforts  were  made  to  stop  secession  by  a  compromise, 

such  as  had  settled  the  dangerous  crises  of  1820,  1833,     352.  Plans 

and  1850.  of  com- 

promise 

(1)  In  December,  1860,  two  "grand  committees"  were  (1860-1861) 
appointed,  one  of  thirteen  members  from  the  Senate,  and  one 

of  thirty-three  from  the  House.  In  the  Senate  committee  Sew- 
ard, as  spokesman  for  the  Republican  party,  offered  a  proposi- 
tion (which  was  privately  drafted  by  Lincoln)  to  the  effect 
(a)  that  Congress  should  not  interfere  with  slavery  in  the 
states ;  (6)  that  the  personal  liberty  laws  be  withdrawn ; 
(c)  that  the  federal  government  should  punish  such  move- 
ments as  the  John  Brown  raid ;  (d)  that  fugitives  should  have 
a  jury  trial.  Jefferson  Davis  offered  as  the  southern  ultima- 
tum that  the  free  states  should  be  compelled  to  protect  slave 
property  in  transit  or  temporary  sojourn.  Plainly  neither  side 
was  really  desirous  of  compromise.  The  House  committee  even- 
tually submitted  "the  Corwin  Amendment,"  prohibiting  inter- 
ference by  Congress  with  slaves  in  the  states,  and  both  houses 
voted  it ;  but  it  was  clearly  insufficient  for  the  crisis. 

(2)  The  slave  states  were  divided  among  themselves. 
Neither  the  five  "  border  states,"  —  Delaware,  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  —  nor  the  next  tier  of  states,  — 


410  CIVIL    WAR 

North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas,  —  as  yet  saw  suffi- 
cient reason  for  secession.  Senator  Crittenden  of  Kentucky, 
therefore,  prepared  a  series  of  constitutional  amendments,  in- 
tended to  keep  the  border  states  in  the  Union,  and  providing 
that:  (a)  the  territories  were  to  be  divided  between  freedom 
and  slavery  ;  (6)  the  District  of  Columbia  was  to  remain  slave- 
holding;  (c)  interstate  slave  trade  was  to  stop;  (d)  the  per- 
sonal liberty  laws  were  to  be  withdrawn.  Against  this  plan 
Lincoln,  as  President-elect,  used  all  his  personal  influence  over 
the  Republicans  in  Congress;  for  he  felt  that  any  compro- 
mise which  recognized,  extended,  and  perpetuated  territorial 
slavery  was  an  admission  that  the  Republican  party  had  no 
reason  for  existence. 

(3)  A  third  attempt  at  compromise  was  a  "Peace  Congress," 
called  by  the  border  states  at  Washington  in  February,  1861 ; 
twenty-one  states  were  represented.  This  body  sat  for  a 
month  and  made  a  report,  which  was  substantially  the  Crit- 
tenden compromise;  but  neither  Senate  nor  House  would 
recommend  its  adoption. 

If  the  North  would  neither  consent  to  secession  nor  make 

a  compromise,  what  was  left  but  to  keep  the  seceding  states 

353   Plans     *n   *^e    Union   by  force  ?     To   this   remedy  there  were 

of  coercion     many  objections.     Thousands  of  people  in  the  North, 

(1861) 

*        '  especially  the  abolitionists,  thought  the  country  would  be 

better  off  without  the  slaveholding  states ;  the  army  and  navy 
were  small  and  scattered;  and  President  Buchanan  argued 
that  there  was  no  way  of  "coercing  a  state"  —  that  is,  of 
constitutionally  compelling  the  obedience  of  people  organized 
in  what  they  called  a  "  Sovereign  State."  Yet  some  action  had 
to  be  taken,  because  the  sites  of  the  few  forts  still  in  possession 
of  the  United  States  had  been  formally  ceded  by  the  states  to 
the  Union ;  hence,  to  give  them  up  would  be  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  right  of  secession,  while  to  hold  them  was  to 
throttle  the  southern  ports  of  Pensacola  and  Charleston. 


THE   CRISIS   (1859-1861) 


411 


Fort  Sumter,  which  lay  in  the  chan- 
nel of  Charleston,  became  the  storm 
center.    Black  and  Stanton  advised 
sending  two  hundred  men  with 
ammunition;   and  on  January 
9,   1861,   the    merchant   ship 
/Star  of  the  West,  carrying  the 
stars   and   stripes,  appeared 
for  this  purpose  off  the  fort, 
but  was  fired  upon  by  a  South 
Carolina   battery,  and   com- 
pelled to  turn  back.     Ander- 
son stationed  his  men  at  the 
guns,  and  was  about  to  re- 
turn the  fire;  but  on  reflec- 
tion he  wisely  referred  the     'J 
whole  matter  to  the  govern- 
ment  in   Washington;    and 
the  South  waited  for  the  new 
administration  to  declare  its 
position. 

For  three  months  President- 
elect Lincoln  remained  quietly 
at  his  home  in  Springfield,  ar- 
ranging his    Cabinet,   receiving 


delegations,  listening  to  office 
seekers,  and  keeping  his  eye 
on  Congress.  He  early  selected 
Seward  to  be  his  Secretary  of 
State,  and  thereby  put  that  im- 
pulsive  statesman  under  bonds 

not  to  do  anything  to  embar-  Inauguration  of  Lincoln,  1861. 
rass  his  future  chief.  He  also  sent  word  to  General  Scott 
(December  21,  1860),  asking  him  to  be  prepared  "to  either 


354.    Lin- 
coln's pur- 
poses 
1860-1861) 


412  CIVIL   WAR 

Lincoln,        hold  or  retake  the  forts,  as  the  case  may  require,  at  and 
Works,  I.  66  after  the  inaugUration." 

In  February,  1861,  Lincoln   started  eastward,  and  made  a 

series   of    speeches,    in    which    he    foreshadowed    his    future 

policy.     "  On  what  rightful  principle,"  said  he  at  Indian- 
Ibid.  674  ..  . 

apolis,  "  may  a  State,  being  not  more  than  one  fiftieth  part 

of  the  nation  in  soil  and  population,  break  up  the  nation  ?  " 
March  4,  1861,  Lincoln  appeared  at  the  Capitol,  took  the 
oath  of  office,  and  in  his  inaugural  address  sounded  the  keynote 
of  his  administration.  "  I  hold  that  in  contemplation  of  univer- 
sal law  and  of  the  Constitution,  the  Union  of  these  States  is 
perpetual  .  .  .  and  to  the  extent  of  my  ability  I  shall  take  care 

„  ,  „         •  •  •  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully  executed  in 
Ibid.  II.  3,6  .  J 

all  the  States.  .  .  .  Physically  speaking,  we  can  not  sepa- 
rate. We  can  not  remove  our  respective  sections  from  each 
other,  nor  build  an  impassable  wall  between  them." 

Mr.  Lincoln's   first   official   act  was  to  select  his  Cabinet, 

and  he  showed  his  political  wisdom  by  choosing  about  equally 

355.  Period  among  former  Whigs  and  former  Democrats.     To  Chase 

tainty  °^  Ohio,  the  ablest  of  the  political  abolitionists,  he  as- 

(1861)  signed  the  treasury.      Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania, 

against  Lincoln's  first  judgment,  was  made  Secretary  of  War. 

Edward  Bates  of  Missouri,  Attorney-General,  was  a  southern 

Kepublican;  Gideon  WTelles  of  Connecticut,  Secretary  of  the 

Navy,  was  a  former  New  England  Democrat.     Caleb  B.  Smith 

of   Indiana  was    Secretary  of   the  Interior,  and  Montgomery 

Blair  of  Maryland  was  Postmaster-General. 

For  some  weeks,  the  time  of  the  President  was  absorbed  by 
a  terrible  scramble  for  minor  offices  of  every  kind,  in  the 
nearest  approach  to  a  "  clean  sweep  "  of  officeholders  that  the 
country  has  ever  seen.  The  question  of  Fort  Sumter  could 
not  be  long  postponed,  however,  because  commissioners  of  the 
Confederate  government  appeared  and  demanded  an  interview 
on  that  subject,  which  the  President  declined.     The  President 


THE  CRISIS  (1859-1861)  413 

next  asked  for  written  opinions  from  the  members  of  his  Cabi- 
net, on  provisioning  Fort  Sumter.  Seward  replied  that  he 
was  for  conciliation  and  would  not  provoke  war,  and  Mont- 
gomery Blair  was  the  only  member  of  the  Cabinet  who  advised 
using  force.  Seward  unwisely  assumed  that  he  was  to  be  the 
real  head  of  the  administration,  and  took  it  upon  himself  to 
say  through  third  parties  to  the  southern  commissioners  that 
he  was  sure  that  the  fort  would  be  given  up.  A  few  days 
later  (April  1)  Seward  sent  to  the  President  a  remarkable 
letter,  in  which  he  proposed  to  take  charge  of  the  government, 
and  make  war  on  Spain,  France,  and  England,  so  as  to  bring 
back  the  seceders  to  defend  the  United  States.  Lincoln  re- 
plied With  dignity  but  firmness  that  the  President  must  do 
whatever  was  done,  and  after  this  little  contest  Seward  cheer- 
fully accepted  the  fact  that  the  President  was  his  chieftain. 

Lincoln  was  convinced  from  the  outset  that  even  if  he  gave 
up  the  forts, it  could  only  postpone  war;  that  the  old  questions 
of  fugitive  slaves,  of  boundaries,  of  the  border  states,       356.  Fort 
especially  the  division  of  the  territories  and  of  the  Pacific  ^A^r?* 

coast,  would  instantly  come  up  again;  and  that  a  sepa-  1861) 

rate  confederacy  would  demand  more  than  was  demanded 
by  southern  states  before  secession. 

Batteries  were  by  this  time  constructed  around  Charleston 
Harbor,  commanding  Fort  Sumter.  When  on  April  8,  1861, 
Lincoln  sent  a  notice  that  he  purposed  to  forward  a  supply 
of  provisions  to  Sumter,  he  threw  on  Jefferson  Davis  and  his 
Cabinet  at  Montgomery  the  responsibility  of  firing  the  first 
gun.  Even  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  State,  the  "fire  eater'' 
Bobert  Toombs,  objected  to  armed  resistance,  and  said:  stowell, 
"  Mr.  President,  at  this  time  it  is  suicide,  murder,  and  Toombs,  226 
will  lose  us  every  friend  at  the  North.  ...  It  is  unnecessary; 
it  puts  us  in  the  wrong ;  it  is  fatal." 

He  was  overruled,  and  instructions  were  given  to  General 
Beauregard,  in  command  of  the  Charleston  district,  to  reduce 


414 


CIVIL   WAR 


Fort  Sum 
ter,  427 


Fort  Sumter.    At  4.30  a.m.  of  April  12, 1861,  a  shell,  fired  from 

Crawford,      Fort  Johnson  by  Captain  George  S.  James,  "  rose  high 

in  air,  and  curving  in  its  course,  burst  almost  directly 

over  the  fort."     With  his  sixty  men  and  a  few  laborers, 

Anderson  defended  himself   against  forts  manned   by  seven 

thousand   men.      After   thirty   hours   of   bombardment,  Fort 

Sumter  was  knocked  about  his  ears,  while  the  relief  expedition 


Interior  of  Fort  Sumter  after  Bombardment,  April,  1861. 

lay  helpless  outside  the  bar.  Anderson  therefore  surrendered 
the  fort,  April  14,  1861,  marching  out  with  colors  flying  and 
drums  beating,  and  saluting  his  flag  with  fifty  guns. 

April  15,  1861,  President  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation  call- 
357.  Seces-  ing  on  tne  state  governors  to  send  75,000  state  militia, 
borde*  **  and  this  action  compelled  the  border  states  to  take  sides 
states  with   either   South   or   North.     So   far  they   had   been 

(1861)  quiet:  in  Virginia,  Arkansas,  and  Missouri  conventions 

had  assembled,  but  refused  to  secede ;  in  North  Carolina  and 


THE   CRISIS    (1859-1861)  415 

Tennessee  no  conventions  had  been  called.  The  Kentucky  leg- 
islature voted  that  "  Kentucky  should  maintain  a  strict  neu- 
trality during  the  present  contest."  Now,  to  the  President's 
request  for  men,  the  governor  of  Missouri  replied,  "The 
requisition  is  illegal,  unconstitutional  and  revolutionary  in 
its  object,  inhuman  and  diabolical,  and  can  not  be  complied 
with  " ;  and  every  other  border-state  government  refused. 

Virginia  at  once  seceded ;  but  Fort  Monroe  was  held  by  the 
Union ;  Arkansas  and  Tennessee  followed ;  North  Carolina  then 
seceded;  and  all  four  states  immediately  joined  the  southern 
Confederacy.  Delaware  remained  quiet.  Maryland  for  a  time 
seemed  likely  to  secede;  and  on  April  19  the  Sixth  Massachu- 
setts Regiment,  while  passing  through  the  city  of  Baltimore, 
was  attacked  by  a  mob  and  several  men  were  killed  — the  first 
blood  of  northern  troops  shed  in  the  Civil  War.  In  Kentucky, 
there  was  a  secession  convention  and  a  nominal  secession  legis- 
lature, but  the  regular  government  of  the  state  remained  loyal 
throughout  the  war,  and  furnished  seventy-six  thousand  troops 
to  the  Union  army.  In  Missouri  a  camp  of  secessionists  was 
formed  in  St.  Louis,  but  the  Germans  in  the  city  remained 
loyal,  were  drilled  and  organized,  and  under  Captain  Lyon 
broke  up  the  camp  (May  10) ;  and  there  was  no  formal  secession. 

Who  shall  describe  the  excitement,  wrath,  and  grief  in  the 
North   while   Fort   Sumter    was   under   bombardment?      On 
Sunday,  the  day  of  surrender,  hundreds  of  northern  min-  35g   Risi 
isters  called  on  their  congregations  to  support  the  govern-  of  the  North 
ment.     The  members  of  the  militia  companies  hurried  to 
their  armories ;  the  states  opened  their  arsenals  for  arms  and 
military  supplies ;  banks  offered  millions  of  dollars  in  loans  to 
the  state  governments ;  the  legislatures  appropriated  unheard-of 
sums  for  military  supplies ;  the  women  joined  with  the  men  in 
fitting  out  the  soldier  and   bidding  him  Godspeed.      As  the 
need  grew  more  urgent,  the  flower  of  American  youth  volun- 
teered, and   some  colleges  were  almost  broken  up  by  loss  of 


416  CIVIL   WAR 

students.  Even  the  President's  old  enemy,  Stephen  A.  Doug- 
las, with  characteristic  impetuosity  came  to  him,  and  offered 
any  service  that  he  could  give  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union. 

The   first   full   regiment  to   report  was   the   Sixth   Massa- 
chusetts, raised  among  the  farmers  and  townspeople  around 
Lexington  and  Concord.      Within  forty-eight  hours  from  the 
President's   call,  it   was   on   its  way  to    Washington.     As   it 
marched   through   Boston   the   people  rose   almost   with   one 
accord  to  do  it  honor,  and  its  reception  in  New  York  is  typical 
Hart             of  the  popular  feeling  all  over  the  Union.     "  We  saw  the 
Source           heads  of  armed   men,  the  gleam  of  their  weapons,  the 
regimental    colors,    all    moving    on,    pageant-like;    but 
naught  could  we  hear  save  that  hoarse,  heavy  surge  —  one 
general  acclaim,  one  wild  shout  of  joy  and  hope,  one  endless 
cheer,  rolling  up  and  down,  from  side  to  side,  above,  below, 
to  right,  to  left."  

In  the  twelve  months  from  April,  1860,  to  April,  1861,  the 
country  went  through  as  much  history  as  in  the  ten  years 
359.  Sum-      previous.  •    In   the   election   of    1860   the   country   was 
mary  divided   between  the   Eepublicans,  strong   only  in   the 

northern  states ;  and  the  Douglas  or  moderate  Democrats,  the 
Breckenridge  or  extreme  proslavery  Democrats,  and  the  Con- 
servatives, mostly  old  Whigs,  all  three  distributed  through  the 
Union.  Lincoln's  election  precipitated  a  crisis  which  had  long 
been  approaching,  and  the  secession  of  South  Carolina  started 
off  the  other  cotton  states  like  bricks  in  a  row.  Three  months 
after  the  election,  and  a  month  before  Lincoln's  inauguration, 
the  southern  Confederacy  was  formed. 

President  Buchanan  was  helpless  because  he  had  yielded 
so  much  to  his  extreme  proslavery  friends  and  allies  that  he 
had  lost  the  right  to  protest  at  anything  they  might  do.  Lin- 
coln could  not  accept  secession,  even  of  the  Gulf  states,  because 


THE   CRISIS   (1859-1861)  417 

convinced  it  would  leave  controversies  which  must  speedily 
bring  back  the  necessity  of  war.  Efforts  to  hold  intact  the 
border  states  failed,  because  Lincoln  saw  that  nothing  could 
satisfy  them  except  the  further  extension  of  slavery,  which 
the  Republican  party  was  formed  to  resist. 

Yet  Lincoln  could  not  bear  to  begin  civil  war,  and  in  his 
inaugural  address  he  affirmed  his  solemn  purpose  to  preserve, 
protect,  and  defend  the  Union.  Though  he  never  intended  for 
a  moment  to  give  way  to  secession,  and  was  ready  to  accept  a 
contest  for  Charleston  harbor,  he  made  the  other  side  take  the 
responsibility  of  firing  the  first  gun,  and  thereby  of  arousing  the 
spirit  of  the  North. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Why  was  John  Sherman's  approval  of  The  Impending  Crisis  Suggestive 
so  obnoxious  to  the  southern  members  ?  (2)  What  was  there  that  opics 
was  new  in  the  Davis  resolutions  of  1860  ?  (3)  Why  did  the 
southern  delegates  oppose  the  nomination  of  Douglas  in  1860  ? 
(4)  Why  was  Seward  set  aside  at  Chicago  in  1860  ?  (5)  Admis- 
sion of  Kansas,  1861.  (6)  Why  did  Buchanan  consult  Jefferson 
Davis  on  his  message  ?  (7)  Why  did  Anderson  move  from  Fort 
Moultrie  to  Fort  Sumter  ?  (8)  Why  was  not  Fort  Pickens  seized 
by  Florida  ?  (9)  What  was  the  ground  of  the  opposition  to  seces- 
sion in  Georgia  ?  (10)  What  men  were  responsible  for  the  secession 
of  the  southern  states?  (11)  Why  was  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
opposed  to  secession  ?  (12)  Why  did  compromise  fail  in  Congress  ? 
(13)  Why  did  not  Lincoln  receive  the  commissioners  of  the  Con- 
federate government  ?  (14)  Was  Lincoln's  attempt  to  provision 
Fort  Sumter  an  act  of  war  ?  (15)  Why  did  Toombs  object  to 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter  ?  (16)  Was  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  an 
act  of  war  ?     (17)  How  was  Maryland  saved  to  the  Union  ? 

(18)  Contested  elections  of  Speaker  of  the  House.  (19)  The  Search 
Chicago  Republican  convention,  1860.  (20)  The  South  Carolina  topics 
secession  convention,  1860.  (21)  Northern  approval  of  John 
Brown.  (22)  Controversy  between  South  Carolina  and  Massa- 
chusetts over  the  negro  seamen  act.  (23)  Seizure  of  United 
States  public  property  in  the  South.  (24)  Northern  advocates  of 
secession.  (25)  James  L.  Petigru  as  a  Union  man.  (26)  The 
Peace  Congress  of  1861.  (27)  Lincoln  on  his  way  to  Washington. 
(28)  Lincoln's  choice  of  a  Cabinet. 


418 


CIVIL    WAR 


Geography 
Secondary- 
authorities 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  390,  434,  435. 

Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  §§  101-106,  117 ;  Charming. 
United  States,  254-265;  Johnston,  Politics,  189-198;  Stanwood, 
Presidency,  279-297;  Dodge,  Civil  War,  1-8;  Hart,  Causes  of 
Civil  War;  Rhodes,  United  States,  II.  416-502,  III.  115-415; 
Schouler,  United  States,  V.  454-512,  VI.  1-50  ;  Wilson,  American 
People,  IV.  186-208 ;  Cambridge  Modem  History,  VII.  439-450  ; 
Gay,  Bryant's  History,  IV.  432-447  ;  Larned,  History  for  Ready 
Reference,  V.  3405 ;  Ropes,  Civil  War,  I.  1-97  ;  Curtis,  Constitu- 
tional History,  II.  285-295,  300-338  ;  Macy,  Political  Parties,  283- 
317 ;  Nicolay,  Outbreak  of  Rebellion,  1-81 ;  Hinsdale,  How  to 
study  and  teach  History,  297-311  ;  Brown,  Lower  South,  83-152, 
—  S.  A.  Douglas,  129-141  ;  Morse,  Abraham  Lincoln,  I.  161-272  ; 
Hapgood,  Abraham  Lincoln,  151-208  ;  Bancroft,  W.  H  Seward, 
I.  520-553,  II.  1-45,  91-163;  Hart,  S.  P.  Chase,  178-211;  Lee, 
General  Lee,  52-98  ;  Trent,  R.  E.  Lee,  31-48 ;  Shaler,  Kentucky ; 
Du  Bois,  William  Lowndes  Yancey. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  113-115,  —  Contemporaries,  IV.  §§49- 
74,  76,  77,  96,  97,  —  Source  Readers,  IV.  §  29  ;  MacDonald,  Select 
Documents,  nos.  93-96,  —  Select  Statutes,  no.  1 ;  American  His- 
tory Leaflets,  nos.  12,  18  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  nos.  11,  107  ;  Cald- 
well, Survey,  108-117;  Johnston,  American  Orations,  III.  230- 
329,  IV.  16-81 ;  Century  Company,  Battles  and  Leaders,  I.  7-98. 
See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  353,  —  Historical 
Sources,  §  87. 

Whittier,  Antislavery  Poems,  213-215 ;  Winston  Churchill,  The 
Crisis  (Lincoln)  ;  M.  D.  Conway,  Pine  and  Palm  ;  John  Fox, 
Little  Shepherd  of  Kingdom  Come  ;  W.  A.  Barton,  Pine  Knot 
(mountains  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee). 

Wilson,  American  People,  IV.  ;  Harper's  Weekly. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 


■T--8. 


NORTH   AND   SOUTH   IN    1861 

The   result   of  the   Civil   War   depended   on   the   relative 

strength   of    the    contestants,    measured    in    men,   resources, 

business  organization,  and  moral  force.     In  population,    360.  Popu- 

the  North,  which  included  the  West  and  Northwest,  far  latio*°f  _! 
7  '  sections 

surpassed  its  rival:  in  1790  the  North  and  the  South  (1861) 

had  each  2,000,000  people;  but  in  1860  the  free  states  and 
territories  counted  19,000,000,  and  the  slaveholding  states 
and  territories 
12,000,000.  The 
difference  was 
due  to  a  more 
rapid  growth  of 
population  and 
to  the  3,500,000 
foreigners  in  the 
North,  while 
there  were  but 
300,000  foreign- 
ers  in    the    part 

of  the  South  which  seceded;  for  immigrants  disliked  going 
where  there  were  few  cities  and  few  manufactures,  and  where 
manual  labor  was  despised. 

When  the  crisis  came,   to   the   nineteen   free  states   were 

added  four  of  the  slaveholding  states,  Maryland,  Delaware, 

Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  with  a  total  population  of  3,100,000. 

Of  those  people  probably  500,000  adhered  to  the  South;  but 

hart's  amer.  hist. — 25       419 


f?'7~- 

->____  5 

f           ;     J* 

|  Settled  Area  In  1830. 
|  "Dots  sho-7  regions  settled 
between  1830  and  I860. 


Settled  Area  in  1860. 


420 


CIVIL   WAR 


West  Virginia,  and  East  Tennessee  stood  by  the  Union,  and 
nearly  made  good  that  loss.  The  total  population  of  the  region 
controlled  by  secession  was  therefore  about  8,900,000  as  against 
22,100,000  for  the  area  supporting  the  Union.  Out  of  the 
8,900,000,  3,500,000  were  slaves,  and  140,000  free  ne- 
groes, leaving  a  white  population  of  5,300,000, 
of  whom  about  1,400,000  were  white  men 
between  eighteen  and 
presumably  capable  of 
ice.  The  free 
states  and  four 
loyal  slave  states 
contained  about 
5,000,000  men 
from  eighteen  to 
sixty  years  old. 

For  the-support 
of   an   army,    the 

361.  The  North  had 
farmer  and  many  advan- 
the  planter    ,  . , 

tages.  About 

twice  as  much 
land  was  under 
cultivation  as  in 
the  South ;  and 
farm  machinery,  fertilizers,  and  improved  methods  made  farm- 
ing more  productive.  On  the  western  border  lived  several  mil- 
lion frontiersmen,  in  rude  houses  of  logs  or  rough  lumber  or 
even  of  prairie  sod ;  but  these  men  of  the  West  and  Northwest 
were  getting  on,  saving  money,  making  improvements  ;  and,  as 
far  west  as  Wisconsin,  much  of  the  country  was  as  thickly 
settled  and  prosperous  as  the  rural  parts  of  New  York  state. 
In  the  South  plantations  of  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of 
acres  were  common,  but  the  staple  crop  was  cotton,  of  which 


A  Log  House  in  the  Backwoods. 


NORTH  AND   SOUTH   IN   1861 


421 


the  South  exported  a  value  of  $191,000,000  in  1860.  It  did 
not  raise  all  its  own  food,  and  was  buying  corn  and  hog  prod- 
ucts in  large  quantities  from  the  Northwest.  Most  of  the 
profits  of  farming  went  to  the  great  slaveholding  planters. 

The  rise  of  city  and  factory  populations  developed  in  the 
eastern  states  a  democracy  very  like  that  of  the  West.     The 
manufacturers  and  heads  of  corporations,  many  of  whom        362.  De- 
had  risen  from  the  ranks  of  labor,  were  now  leaders  in  ^J^^SS. 
American  industry.     The  South  supposed  that  this  was  a  racy 

timid  class,  which  would  never  permit  a  war  for  fear  of  losing 
its  profits,  and  that  workmen  and  clerks  were  "  mudsills,"  who 
would  not  and  could  not 
fight.  Yet  from  such  men 
came  a  great  part  of  the 
victorious  northern  ar- 
mies. In  the  West  there 
was  a  genuine  and  wide- 
awake democracy,  which 
knew  no  such  thing  as 
family  prestige,  and  was 
not  controlled  by  the 
commercial  class. 

In  the  South  slaves 
were  almost  the  only 
form  of  great  wealth,  and 
the  300,000  slaveholding 
families  were  as  much 
a  governing  class  as  in 
colonial   times.      Out   of 

those  families  came  also  nearly  all  the  doctors,  lawyers,  and 
ministers  in  the  South.  The  most  numerous  type  of  the 
southern  white  was  that  of  the  "  crackers,"  or  "  poor  whites," 
illiterate  and  unprogressive,  but  born  fighting  men.  Most  of 
them  believed  that  the  interest  of  slavery  was  their  interest 


A  Poor  White,  spinning. 
From  a  Kentucky  photograph. 


422  CIVIL   WAR 

also,  and  therefore  supported  the  planter  at  the  polls  and  in 
the  trenches.  Nevertheless,  the  mountain  whites  along  the 
west  slope  of  the  Appalachians  had  no  slaves,  hated  the  slave- 
holders, and  constantly  opposed  them  in  the  state  governments. 
During  the  period  from  1840  to  1860  the  state  constitu- 
tions, both  North  and  South,  grew  more  and  more  democratic. 

363.  Ideals    Tne  most  striking  novelty  in  government  was  jealousy 

of  state  of  the  legislatures,  which  were  tied  down  bv  amendments 

government      »    ,,  .  J 

ot   the  state   constitutions ;    and   there  was  much  new 

legislation  to  provide  for  new  problems  of  business  and  social 

life.     In  the  South  the  states  legislated  less  for  social  welfare 

than  in  the  North;   partly  from  long  habit,  partly  because 

there  was  no  class  of  free  mechanics  to  demand  legislation. 

Party  management  grew  more  and  more  elaborate,  especially 
in  the  populous  northern  states,  and  in  a  few  states  the  power 
of  the  political  boss  was  highly  developed ;  yet  candidates  for 
state  offices  were  nominated  in  conventions  where  the  result 
was  not  arranged  beforehand,  and  there  was  plenty  of  discus- 
sion in  state  legislatures.  In  purity  of  politics  the  South  was 
better  off  than  any  other  part  of  the  country,  for  the  use  of 
money  at  elections  was  there  uncommon.  The  one  question 
which  could  not  be  discussed  there,  and  on  which  nobody  was 
allowed  to  disagree  with  his  neighbor,  was  slavery. 

The  census  of  1860  showed  158  cities  of  8000  or  more  people, 
containing  about  a  sixth  of  the  total  population.    Of  these,  137 

364.  Ameri-  were  in  the  states  which  adhered  to  the  Union,  and  21 
can  cities       within  the  later  southern  Confederacy.     New  Orleans, 

with  a  population  of  168,000,  lived,  largely,  from  down-river 
western  trade,  and  the  largest  southern  city  supported  wholly 
by  southern  commerce  was  Charleston,  with  41,000  people. 

In  the  North,  as  the  old  towns  expanded,  they  turned  into 
crude,  irregularly  built,  and  ugly  cities,  and  nobody  seemed  to 
foresee  how  fast  they  would  increase.  Washington  was  an 
unpaved  bog  in  time  of  rain,  and  its  scavengers  were  half-wild 


NORTH  AND   SOUTH  IN   1861  423 

hogs.  Most  of  the  cities  had  public  water  supplies  :  Philadel- 
phia began  a  system  of  city  waterworks  in  1801,  New  York 
built  its  Croton  aqueduct  in  1835-1842,  and  Boston  got  Cochit- 
uate  water  in  1845=  The  cities  were  poorly  policed  and  riots 
were  frequent.  In  1834  the  colored  quarter  in  Philadelphia 
was  attacked,  and  a  Boston  mob  burned  a  Catholic  convent 
in  a  suburb.  In  the  large  cities  politics  were  very  unsavory : 
New  York  and  San  Francisco  were  renowned  for  their  corrupt 
and  disorderly  governments  and  for  fraud  and  violence  at 
elections. 

About  1860  people  began  to  wake  up  to  the  possibilities  of 
improving  their  own  cities.  In  1857  the  city  of  New  York 
organized  a  "metropolitan  police"  of  uniformed  and  disci- 
plined men,  and  laid  out  Central  Park,  the  first  great  municipal 
pleasure  ground  in  the  country.  Horse  cars  began  to  be  widely 
used  about  1845.  The  western  cities  were  now  growing  fast : 
Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  and  Chicago  were  still  rude  and  dirty, 
but  had  populations  of  161,000,  161,000,  and  109,000.  Next  to 
them  in  importance  were  Louisville  (68,000),  Pittsburg  (49,000), 
Detroit,  Milwaukee,  and  Cleveland  (each  about  45,000). 

For  public  education,  the  cities  developed  a  system  of  free 
graded  schools,  in  which  pupils  of  about  the  same  age  and 
experience  could  be  gathered  into  one  room ;  and  about  365  A 
1850  they  began  to  appoint  trained  superintendents  to     can  educa- 
direct  their  schools.     The  country  district  schools  were 
still  taught  by  farmers'  sons  and  daughters,  who  often  had  no 
other  education  than  that  of  the  district  school  itself.     Still, 
even  the  remote  prairie  farmer  had  a  schoolhouse  near  by  to  start 
his  boys  and  girls  in  education.     Some  of  the  northern  cities 
had  public  high  schools,  for  boys  and  girls ;  in  a  few  places  there 
were  separate  girls'  high  schools;   in  the  North  were  many 
"  female  seminaries,"  and  other  large  boarding  schools  for  girls. 

Colleges  were  still  small ;  none  of  them  had  over  530  under- 
graduate students  in  1860.     College  athletics  made  a  begin- 


424  CIVIL  WAR 

ning  at  this  time,  with  the  rowing  in  some  eastern  colleges , 
but  the  animal  spirits  of  the  students  still  found  vent  in  all 
sorts  of  boisterous  horseplay.  True  universities  were  at  last 
beginning  to  develop.  The  older  colleges  added  departments : 
a  theological  school  here,  a  law  school  there,  a  school  of  mines 
in  another  place;  and  the  new  western  state  universities 
included  from  their  beginning  a  system  of  special  and  techni- 
cal schools.  In  1862  Congress  made  a  large  gift  of  land  to 
found  agricultural  colleges  in  the  states.  The  University  of 
Iowa  took  the  bold  step  of  admitting  women  to  the  various 
parts  of  the  university  (1856),  an  example  later  followed  by 
all  the  western  state  universities. 

Southern  education  was  on  a  different  footing.  Only  about 
a  fifth  as  many  children  were  at  school  as  in  the  North.  The 
slaves  and  free  negroes  had  no  form  of  education,  and  the 

country  poor  whites  had  little 
or  none.  In  the  towns  the 
public  schools  had  small  funds 
and  few  trained  teachers.  The 
South  had  many  military  acad- 
emies, the  best  known  of  which 
were  the  famous  "Citadel" 
in  Charleston  and  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute  at  Lexing- 
ton, Virginia.  Some  of  the  well- 
to-do  families  sent  their  sons 
to  southern  state  or  denomi- 
national  colleges,   or   abroad, 

„  _  _  or    to    northern    colleges,  and 

Henry  W.  Longfellow,  °    / 

about  1870.  the   ruling   class  was   highly 

From  a  photograph  lent  by  the  family,    educated  and  intellectual. 

The  year  1860  falls  about  in  the  middle  of  the  golden  age  of 
American  literature,  in  which  flourished  Whittier,  the  pathetic 
poet  of  slavery  and  suffering;  Longfellow,  the  sunny-minded 


NORTH  AND   SOUTH  IN   1861 


125 


and  graceful;    Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  the  wit  of  his  time; 
and  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  whose  essays,  full  of  virile  '^gjjj 
thought  and  masterful  English,  had  been  published  al-  ture 

most  twenty  years  earlier. 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne 
(§  289),  perhaps  the  great- 
est of  all  American  writ- 
ers, died  in  1864. 

In  addition  to  the 
North  American  Review 
and  De  Bow's  Review,  an 
excellent  southern  review 
of  economic  and  political 
questions,  two  other  mag- 
azines were  founded  in 
lighter  vein :  Harper's 
Monthly,  started  in  1850, 
and  soon  after  made  an 
illustrated  magazine ;  and 
the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
founded    in     November, 

1857,  under  the  editorship  of  James  Eussell  Lowell.  Lowell 
excelled  as  a  poet,  essayist,  and  critic ;  but  he  will  always  be 
best  remembered  for  his  Biglow  Papers,  the  keenest  of  satires 
on  slavery. 

The  new  school  of  American  historians  was  at  the  height  of 
its  activity  in  1860;  to  George  Bancroft  and  William  H. 
Prescott  were  added  John  Lothrop  Motley  with  his  Rise  of  the 
Dutch  Republic  (1856)  ;  and  Francis  Parkman,  greatest  of  all 
American  historians,  who  about  1850  began  his  life  work  of 
describing  the  relations  of  the  Indians,  the  French,  and  the 
English  in  the  new  world,  "  the  romance  of  the  woods." 

The  fierce  contest  of  the  Civil  War  developed  many  political 
humorists.     Among  the  more  genial  was  Artemus  Ward,  whose 


Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  in  1856. 


426  CIVIL    WAR 

quaint  phraseology  and  ingenious  misspelling  can  not  hide  the 
vigor  and  incisiveness  of  his  thought.  It  was  he  who  was 
willing  "  to  send  all  his  wife's  male  relatives  to  the  war." 

In  this  active  intellectual  life  the  South  had  little  part. 
Aside  from  its  able  political  writers,  it  had  no  body  of  defenders 
of  slavery  equal  to  opponents  like  Mrs.  Stowe,  Whittier,  and 
Lowell;  and  no  essayists,  poets,  satirists,  or  historians  who 
were  read  in  the  North  or  affected  northern  public  opinion. 

With  the  passing  of  the  years,  the  great  national  churches 
had  grown  larger,  stronger,  and  wealthier.     Though  the  Pres- 
367.  Reli-      byterians,  Baptists,  and   Methodists   were   split  by  the 
cWhes        slaveiT  question,  the  segments  flourished.     The  Congre- 
gationalists,   Unitarians,    Episcopalians,   and    Catholics 
were  not  formally  divided  by  slavery.     The  Catholic  Church 
was  steadily  enlarged  by  the  immigration  of  Irish  and  Ger- 
man  Catholics,   and   kept   out  of  the  discussion   of   slavery. 
Theology  was  in  general  milder  than  in  1830,  and  there  was 
less  preaching  on   future  punishment,  and   more  on   present 
duty.     Benevolent  organizations  were  now  very  active :  Bible 
societies,  tract  societies,  foreign   missionary  societies,  educa- 
tion  societies,  helped  to   raise   the   moral   standards  of   the 
people. 

The  South,  more  than  the  North,  made  its  churches  intel- 
lectual and  social  centers.  It  had  many  good  church  buildings, 
large  congregations,  and  eloquent  ministers,  perhaps  the  most 
renowned  of  whom  was  Bishop  William  Meade  of  Virginia. 
In  both  city  and  country  the  negroes  had  separate  churches, 
usually  with  a  minister  of  their  own  color;  and  there  is  a 
tradition  that  one  such  church  bought  and  owned  its  minister. 
People  were  learning  what  immense  resources  the  country 
368.  Natu-    Pressed  in  other  products  than  those  of  the  farm.    Lum- 

ral  re-  ber  was  still  very  cheap,  and  a  great  business  was  devel- 

sources  n    .  .    . 

oped   m   supplying    the    white    pine    of    Michigan    and 

Wisconsin  to  the  treeless  prairie  states.     Oil  always  floated 


on 


NORTH   AND   SOUTH   IN   1861 


427 


the  surface  of  Oil  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Allegheny  River, 
and  in  1859  it  was  discovered  that,  by  putting  down  drill  holes 
along  this  creek,  porous  rock  containing  this  valuable  illumi- 
nant  could  be  tapped ;  and  new  methods  of  refining  oil  made 
the  product  marketable. 

Mining  grew  to  be  a  great  industry,  and  many  states  pro- 
vided geological  surveys  of  their  territory.  Hard  coal  abounded 
in  northeastern  Pennsyl- 


vania, soft  coal  in  west- 
ern Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
and  western  Virginia ; 
lead  mines  were  worked 
near  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi; iron  mines  in 
New  England,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia,  and  the 
upper  peninsula  of  Mich- 
igan ;  rich  copper  depos- 
its were  found  south  of 
Lake  Superior,  and  gold 
in  California.  In  1858 
gold  was  found  near 
Pikes  Peak,  and  the 
city  of  Denver  quickly 
sprang  up.  In  1859  silver  was  discovered  in  great  abundance 
at  Virginia  City,  Nevada ;  and  in  1861  gold  in  Montana.  The 
South  was  equally  rich  in  stores  of  timber,  in  coal,  iron,  oil, 
and  the  natural  wealth  of  the  soil ;  but  the  profits  of  industry 
went  into  buying  slaves  and  raising  cotton,  and  there  was  no 
labor  adapted  to  manufacturing.  Hence,  in  the  whole  seceding 
South  the  only  coal  mines  worked  on  a  large  scale  were  those 
on  the  upper  James  in  Virginia. 

During  the  thirty  years  preceding  1860,  great  progress  was 
made  in  commercial  organization.     Corporations  of  every  kind 


Rock  Drill  in  a  California  Gold  Mine. 


428 


CIVIL    WAR 


ization  of 
industry 


rapidly  increased.     Banks  abounded,  and  in  1853  a  clearing 
house  was  organized  in  New  York  to  simplify  the  banking 
369.  Organ-  business.    Labor  also  began  to  organize  into  trades  unions, 
which   demanded   a   shorter   day;    in  1840   the   United 
States  made  ten  hours  the  legal  day  for  its  employees. 
Manufactures    developed    rapidly   because   of    cheap    fuel, 
brought  down  from  the  Pennsylvania  mines  to  the  Hudson 
and  the  Delaware,  so  that  it  could  be  distributed  all  along 
the  seaboard,  for  use  in  factories  and  houses.     In  the  West 
the  fuel  was   bituminous  coal,  in   which  there  was  a  great 
trade  down  the  Ohio  from  Pittsburg  to  Cincinnati,  Louisville, 
St.   Louis,  and  many  other  places.      Soon   after   1860   Lake 
Superior  iron  ore  began  to  come  down  the  Lakes;   and  be- 
fore long  places  convenient  to  both  coal  and  iron,  especially 
Cleveland  and  Pittsburg,  became  great  iron-manufacturing  cen- 
ters.   In  this  commercial  de- 
velopment also  the  South  had 
but  a  small  share.    The  only 
considerable   iron    works   in 
the  South  was  the  Tredegar 
at  Richmond;  there  was  only 
one  other  large  southern  rail 
mill ;  and  the  southern  water 
powers  were  not  developed. 
A    large    amount    of    south- 
ern capital,  however,  was  in- 
vested in  banks,  which  gave 
credit  to  the    small   planter 
and  the  farmer.     Of  the  for- 
eign imports  one  tenth  came 
to  the  South    in    1860,    and 
nine  tenths  to  the  North. 
From  1840  to  1860  was  a  period  of  rapid  progress  in  in- 
ventions.     McCormick's  mowing  machine,  invented  in  1834 


Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  about  1875. 
From  a  photograph  lent  by  the  family 


NORTH   AND   SOUTH   IN   1801  429 

and  put  on  the  market  in  practicable  form  in  1845,  was  stead- 
ily improved,  and  was  soon  followed  by  grain  reapers  on  the 
same  principle.  The  manufacture  of  cloth  was  im-  370.  Great 
proved,  all  the  way  from  the  farm  to  the  wearer's  back,  inventions 
in  carding,  spinning,  weaving,  dyeing.  In  1846  Elias  Howe 
made  his  first  practicable  sewing  machine,  clumsy  enough,  but 
provided  with  a  needle  with  the  eye  near  the  point,  a  device 
which  has  revolutionized  sewing.  In  1844  Goodyear  discov- 
ered a  means  of  "  vulcanizing  "  rubber,  so  as  to  make  it  up  into 
shoes,  garments,  and  hard  articles. 

The  French  inventor  Daguerre  in  1839  announced  a  method 
of  taking  self-recording  sun  pictures  called  daguerreotypes. 
They  required  an  exposure  of  about  twenty  minutes,  and  the 
result  was  a  single  picture  on  a  silver  plate.  An  American, 
Dr.  Draper,  at  once  discovered  that  the  process  could  be  ap- 
plied to  portraits ;  a  few  years  later  an  Englishman  named 
Archer  found  that  a  negative  developed  from  a  collodion  film 
could  be  fixed  on  a  glass  plate,  from  which  any  number  of  prints 
could  be  made :  thus  photography  sprang  into  being.  In  1841 
two  men,  Dr.  Morton  and  Dr.  Jackson,  working  separately,  dis- 
covered that  by  inhaling  the  vapor  of  ether,  a  person  could  be 
made  completely  insensible  to  pain,  and  then  could  return  to 
consciousness  without  permanent  ill  effects. 

The  greatest  new  discovery  in  methods  of  communication 
of  intelligence  was  the  electric  telegraph,  first  discovered  in 
1835,  and  worked  out  and  applied  by  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  and 
Alfred  Vail  in  1844.  It  carried  the  news  of  the  nomination 
of  James  K.  Polk  from  Baltimore  to  Washington.  Telegraph 
lines  rapidly  spread  through  the  country,  and  in  1851  an  elec- 
tric fire-alarm  telegraph  was  set  up.  Machinery  began  to  be 
applied  to  many  new  purposes.  The  first  steam  fire  engine 
was  constructed  about  1853.  In  1847  Richard  Hoe  invented 
a  rotary  printing  press,  run  at  great  speed  and  delivering  a 
continuous  stream  of  newspapers. 


430  CIVIL  WAR 

The  South  had  little  use  for  these  inventions :  factories 
and  workshops  were  few;  most  manufactures  were  imported. 
Mowers  and  reapers  were  of  no  use,  as  there  was  little  hay 
or  grain.  The  only  widely  distributed  labor-saving  machine 
was  the  cotton  gin,  and  of  the  southern  cotton  not  a  fortieth 
part  was  manufactured  in  the  South. 

Eailroads   as  yet  gained   little  from  the  inventions  of  the 

period.     Nearly  the  whole  of  the  railroad  system  was  single 

371.  Trans-  track,  the  trains  slow,  the  stations  (as  many  are  to-day) 
portation        gmall  and  dirty>     From  ^Qw  York  tQ  Chicag0  the  fastest 

schedule  time  in  1860  was  thirty-eight  hours — nearly  twice  the 
time  now  required.  The  cars  were  small  and  comfortless,  but 
sleeping  cars  had  been  introduced  for  the  long  routes.  Kail- 
road  accidents  were  frequent  and  destructive:  the  iron  rails 
broke,  the  wooden  bridges  and  trestles  failed,  and  there  was  no 
system  of  running  trains  by  telegraph.  The  South  fell  behind 
the  North  in  transportation ;  the  railroads  were  lighter  in 
construction,  ran  less  regularly,  and  charged  higher  fares. 
The  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  were  provided  with  light- 
draft  steamers,  but  the  South  built  very  few  vessels,  and  the 
seagoing  coasters  were  mostly  northern  property. 

The  railroad  and  steamboat  quickened  the  carrying  of  the 
mails;  and  other  reforms  were  made  in  the  postal  service. 
Official  adhesive  stamps  were  introduced. (1847);  the  postage 
was  reduced  to  five  cents  (1845),  and  then  to  three  cents 
(1851).  Unfortunately  neither  the  post  office  nor  the  rail- 
road undertook  the  plain  duty  of  carrying  parcels.  In  1839 
a  young  man  named  Harnden  conceived  the  idea  of  carrying 
packages  back  and  forth  between  Boston  and  New  York,  and  he 
thus  began  the  express  business  in  the  United  States.  The 
Adams  Express  Company  was  formed  in  1854.  In  the  fifties 
Wells,  Fargo  and  Company  organized  an  express  system  on 
the  Pacific  coast;  and  Butterfield  and  Company  introduced  a 
"  pony  express  "  for  letters  and  valuables,  which  covered   the 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  IN   1861  431 

nineteen  hundred  miles  from  St.  Joseph  on  the  Missouri  to 
Sacramento  in  ten  days  (map,  p.  516). 


Rich?   busy,   populous,   energetic^   and    advancing  was   the 
United  States  of  America  in  1861 ;  the  27,000,000  white  people 
were  fairly  employed  and  content;  their  government  was      372.  Sum 
the  most  democratic  in  the  world,  and,  with  many  defects,  mary 

yet  answered  their  wants.  They  began  to  understand  the 
natural  wealth  of  their  country,  in  timber,  oil,  metals,  and 
coal;  they  had  an  excellent  and  constantly  improving 
commercial  organization ;  and  their  inventive  minds  were 
pushing  forward  new  labor-saving  discoveries  and  inventions. 
Foreign  and  interior  transportation  were  developing,  so  that 
the  United  States  already  had  more  railroads  in  proportion  to 
the  population  than  any  other  country.  A  national  literature 
expressed  the  national  character  and  pride. 

The  natural  advantages  of  the  country  were  as  great  in  the 
South  as  in  the  North;  the  southerners  had  great  seaports, 
rivers,  forests,  and  mines ;  the  people  came  of  about  the  same 
stock :  yet  in  most  of  the  marks  of  civilization  the  South  was 
far  behind  the  North ;  it  had  fewer  and  poorer  cities,  factories, 
railroads,  schools,  magazines,  writers,  and  readers.  For  this 
disparity,  which  told  heavily  against  the  South  during  the 
Civil  War,  the  main  cause  would  seem  to  be  slavery,  a  system 
under  which  a  great  laboring  class  —  nearly  one  third  of  the 
southern  population  —  was  systematically  cut  off  from  knowl- 
edge, education,  and  the  opportunity  to  rise. 

TOPICS 

(1)  Why  did  so  few  immigrants  go  to  the  South  ?     (2)  Why  did    Suggestive 
West  Virginia  and  East  Tennessee  stand  by  the  Union  ?     (3)  What   topic& 
made  northern  farmers  more  prosperous  than  southern  ?     (4)  Was 
the  cultivation  of  cotton  a  good  thing  for  the  South  ?     (5)  Was 
slavery  a  good  thing  for  the  poor  whites  ?     (6)  How  far  were  the 
southern  slaves  useful  to  the  South  in  carrying  on  the  Civil  War  ? 


432 


CIVIL    WAR 


Search 
topics 


(7)  Why  did  not  the  South  allow  discussion  on  the  slavery  ques- 
tion ?  (8)  Why  were  the  colored  people  so  frequently  attacked 
by  mobs  in  the  North  ?  (9)  Why  did  not  the  southern  educated 
class  make  the  South  prosperous?  (10)  Why  is  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson  famous?  (11)  What  makes  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  the 
greatest  of  all  American  writers  ? 

(12)  The  city  of  Washington  before  the  Civil  War.  (13)  The 
building  of  the  Croton  waterworks  for  New  York.  (14)  Anti- 
negro  mobs  in  Philadelphia.  (15)  Burning  of  the  Catholic  con- 
vent in  Charlestown,  1838.  (16)  District  schools  before  the  war. 
(17)  College  life  before  the  war.  (18)  James  Russell  Lowell's 
antislavery  utterances.  (19)  Funny  things  from  Artemus  Ward. 
(20)  A  trip  from  New  York  to  Chicago  before  1860.  (21)  Whit- 
tier's  antislavery  poems.  (22)  Longfellow's  home  life.  (23)  Jokes 
of  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  (24)  Henry  Ward  Beecher  as  a  pulpit 
orator.  (25)  Bishop  Meade  as  a  churchman.  (26)  Discovery  of 
oil  in  Pennsylvania.  (27)  Discovery  of  gold  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains.    (28)  McCormick's  inventions. 


Geography 
Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


REFERENCES 

See  map,  p.  390. 

Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  §  119  ;  Schouler,  United  States, 
V.  260-269,  VI.  318-341  ;  Cambridge  Modern  History,  VII.  692, 
696,  744-747  ;  Rhodes,  United  States,  III.  1-114  ;  Chad  wick,  Causes 
of  the  Civil  War;  Hart,  Practical  Essays,  258-298  ;  Cable,  Creoles 
of  Louisiana,  232-260  ;  Hale,  J.  R.  Lowell ;  Carpenter,  H.  W. 
Longfellow ;  Linn,  Horace  Greeley,  56-109 ;  Raymond,  Peter 
Cooper,  52-95 ;  Gould,  Louis  Agassiz.  See  also  references  to 
chapter  xxii 

Cairnes,  Slave  Power ;  Olmsted,  Cotton  Kingdom  ;  S.  D.  Smedes, 
Southern  Planter  ;  Helper,  Impending-  Crisis,  See  also  references 
to  chapters  xvi.  xxvi.  xxviii. 

H.  W.  Beecher,  Norwood  (N.E.);  F.  H.  Smith,  Fortunes  of 
Oliver  Horn  (Md.  and  N.Y.);  A.  W.  Tourg^e,  Boyal  Gentleman 
(slavery)  ;  T.  N.  Page,  In  Ole  Virginia  ;  L.  G.  Moore,  Rachel 
Stanwood  (South)  ;  G.  W.  Cable,  Dr.  Sevier  (New  Orleans);  Epes 
Sargent,  Peculiar  (slavery,  Missouri):  Alice  Cary,  The  Great  Doc- 
tor (Middle  West);  Edward  Eggleston,  Mystery  of  Metropolisville 
(Minn.);  C.  H.  Roberts,  Down  the  O-hi-o  ;  Mark  Twain,  Life  on 
the  Mississippi,  —  Huckleberry  Finn  ;  iC  Edmund  Kirke  "  (J.  R. 
Gilmore),  Among  the  Pines;  W.  M.  Baker,  The  New  Timothy. 
See  also  references  to  chapter  xxii. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

PERIOD   OF   UNCERTAINTIES    (APRIL,    1861-DECEMBER,  1862) 

The  Civil  War  practically  began  April  12,  1861,  when  the 
Confederates  fired  on  Fort  Sumter,  although  the  official  Con- 
federate point  of  view  was  that  the  attempt  to  relieve 

373.    The 

Fort  Sumter  was  an  act  of  "  war  between  the  states  " ;  purpose  of 
an  unrighteous  attempt  by  a  "foreign  government"  to  the  war 
conquer  independent  and  sovereign  communities.  The  north- 
ern point  of  view  was  at  first  that  the  war  was  only  a  big  riot 
of  individuals;  that  although  the  southerners  might  try  to 
excuse  themselves  because  they  were  following  the  orders  of 
"sovereign  states"  and  a  "Confederacy,"  really  the  states 
were  still  in  the  Union ;  and  that  every  individual  still  owed 
"  paramount  allegiance  "  to  the  United  States,  and  was  liable 
to  execution  for  treason  if  he  made  armed  resistance  to  the 
authority  of  the  federal  government. 

In  practice  it  was  impossible  to  treat  southerners  in  uni- 
form, acting  under  orders  of  their  superiors,  as  anything  but 
soldiers,  and,  if  captured,  as  prisoners  of  war ;  and  by  a  proc- 
lamation of  April  19,  1861,  for  the  blockade  of  the  southern 
ports,  President  Lincoln  virtually  admitted  that  there  was  a 
government  on  the  other  side,  carrying  on  civilized  war. 
White  flags  were  recognized,  and,  after  a  year,  the  exchange  of 
prisoners  began. 

To  emphasize  the  issue  of  preserving  the  Union,  and  to 
make  it  clear  that  the  war  was  not  inaugurated  to  free  the 
slaves,  the  national  House  of  Representatives,  with  only  two 
negative  votes,  voted,  July  22,  1861,  "That  this  war  is  not 

433 


Longitude  86  W» 


434 


up  * 


pledged         I^V^      *    f 

\    raarlefctc? 
en\      \\     - 

(acon~9\    ^£1™ s~,^^r*'*i 


Wtoiing*011 
Fisher 
Caswell  1  ^V 


$uit  l&e 


I 
^      Si 


-&^« 


^ 


^o. 


**«*2^p 


Moultrie 
•Ft.  Sumter 
Battery  Wagner  THE  THEATER 


OF  THE 

CIYIL  WAR 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


We- 


^Jacksonville 


±:w- 


"So  100  150~ 


•" — ~       Union  Routes 

-  —  -       Confederate  Routes 

*++*»■      Railroads 


Union  Free  States 
Union  Slaveholding  States 
Seceded  after  April  15,  1861 
Seceded  before  April  15,  1861 

|  l.'..POAT£S,  ENfl'H,  N.Y. 


Greenwich  80 


78 


70 


435 


436  CIVIL   WAR 

Congres-  waged  upon  our  part  in  any  spirit  of  oppression,  or  for 
sional Globe,  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjection,  or  purpose  of 
overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  established 
institutions  of  those  States,  but  to  defend  and  maintain  the 
supremacy  of  the  Constitution  and  to  preserve  the  Union  with 
all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several  States  un- 
impaired. " 

The  only  way  to  break  up  the  Confederacy,  and  to  bring 
the  states  back  into  the  Union,  was  to  invade  the  South,  a 
374.  Prob-     region  naturally  very  strong.     The  eastern  and  southern 
vadingThe     DOundary  was  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coast,  most  of  the 
South  harbors  of  which  were  quickly  fortified.     The  western 

boundary  of  the  Confederacy  was  a  wilderness.  Now  an  in- 
vading army  is  like  a  serpent  which  can  strike  only  with  its 
head,  and  as  it  moves  forward  leaves  the  length  of  its  body 
exposed.  Such  an  army  must  follow  some  kind  of  highway 
over  which  supplies  and  reinforcements  may  be  sent  up  to 
the  front ;  hence  the  rough  and  impassable  Appalachians  and 
heavily  wooded  country  east  and  west  of  them  covered  the 
middle  of  the  Confederate  northern  boundary,  and  seemed  a 
sure  protection. 

The  Confederate  military  frontier  early  in  1861  left  to  the 
Union  Fort  Monroe,  the  opposite  "  eastern  shore  "  of  Virginia, 
and  the  country  just  across  the  Potomac  from  Washington; 
the  line  then  followed  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  Potomac 
River,  and  through  the  mountains  of  West  Virginia  and  Ken- 
tucky ;  then  ran  to  the  two  Confederate  forts  of  Donelson  and 
Henry,  on  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee  rivers ;  touched  the 
Ohio  at  Paducah,  crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Belmont,  and  then 
passed  about  midway  through  Missouri. 

Nevertheless  that  strong  line  of  defense  was  weakened  by 
four  routes  into  the  interior  of  the  Confederacy,  and  along 
them  were  fought  most  of  the  campaigns  of  the  Civil  War: 
(1)  the  lower  Mississippi  River,  deep  enough  to  admit  ships 


PERIOD  OF  UNCERTAINTIES   (1861-1862)  437 

from  the  sea ;  (2)  the  upper  Mississippi,  a  great  national  high- 
way, abounding  in  steamers;  (3)  the  line  of  railroad  from 
Louisville  to  Nashville,  and  thence  across  the  mountains  to 
Chattanooga  and  Atlanta;  (4)  a  strip  of  territory  lying  east 
of  the  mountains  in  Virginia,  which  was  crossed  by  three 
railroads  leading  south  from  Washington  to  the  Shenandoah 
valley,  Lynchburg,  and  Richmond. 

To  fight  its  battles,  the  South  had  a  population  accustomed 
to  outdoor  life,  to  the  use  of  firearms,  and  to  the  management 
of  horses;  and  it  had  also  commanders  trained  in  the  375  The 
national  military  school  of  West  Point  and  in  the  wars  two  armies 
of  the  Union.  Since  the  negroes  did  the  hard  work  at  home, 
nearly  all  the  able-bodied  white  men  could  be  enlisted.  Accord- 
ing to  Colonel  Livermore,  the  authority  on  this  question,  over 
1,230,000  different  men  were  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army, 
and  served  long  enough  to  be  equivalent  to  1,080,000  men  under 
arms  an  average  term  of  three  years. 

Though  the  North  was  not  considered  to  be  a  military  peo- 
ple, the  first  call  for  75,000  militia  for  three  months  brought 
out  92,000  "  citizen  soldiers " ;  and  during  1861  660,000  men 
were  enlisted  for  three  years.  Of  each  call  for  troops  during 
the  war  a  proportion  was  assigned  to  each  state.  At  first 
volunteers  poured  in,  but  in  1863  this  impulse  lost  strength 
and  a  draft  was  ordered,  which,  however,  produced  only  36,000 
men.  In  the  course  of  the  whole  war  about  2,500,000  adult 
men  were  in  the  military  service  of  the  Union,  of  whom  about 
400,000  reenlisted  at  least  once.  The  total  service  was  equiva- 
lent to  1,560,000  serving  for  three  years.  To  raise,  organize, 
and  supply  such  enormous  forces  required  a  great  man  as 
Secretary  of  War.  In  January,  1862,  Lincoln  practically  re- 
moved Simon  Cameron  from  that  Department,  and  appointed 
Edwin  M.  Stanton,  chosen  for  his  loyalty  to  the  Union,  his 
rugged  honesty,  and  his  great  ability,  although  he  had  the 
worst  of  tempers,  and  would  occasionally  defy  the  President. 


438  CIVIL   WAR 

The  regular  navy  was  at  first  disorganized,  because   more 
than  a  third   of  the  officers  resigned  to  join  the  Confederacy, 
376.  The       and  all  the  navy  yards  in  the  southern  states  were  seized 
th^block-      by  tne   Confederacy,  with   the   vessels    that    happened 
ade  to  be  in  port.     Of  the  ninety  vessels  nominally  in  the 

Union  navy,  only  seven  steamers  and  five  wooden  cruisers 
were  in  home  ports  and  available  when  the  war  began.  The 
President's  proclamation  of  blockade,  April  19,  1861,  was  a 
notice  to  foreign  ships  that  he  purposed  to  put  squadrons 
outside  all  the  southern  ports,  to  capture  vessels  going  in  or 
running  out.  Thus  began  the  celebrated  "anaconda  policy  " 
of  pressing  on  the  Confederacy  from  all  sides  at  once.  To 
form  the  necessary  blockading  squadrons,  merchant  vessels, 
both  sail  and  steam,  were  hastily  bought  and  equipped,  naval 
volunteers  were  enrolled,  and  in  a  few  months  squadrons  were 
actually  blockading  the  coast  and  making  frequent  captures. 

To  evade  the  blockade,  small  and  very  swift  steam  "blockade 
runners"  were  built  abroad,  to  run  from  the  near-by  Bahama 
and  Bermuda  islands  to  Confederate  ports,  carrying  in 
military  stores  and  miscellaneous  cargoes,  and  carrying  out 
cotton,  compressed  into  small  bulk.  Many  of  these  vessels 
were  captured,  but  their  profits  were  so  great  that  two  suc- 
cessful trips  would  pay  for  a  vessel.  As  the  war  advanced, 
the  blockade  grew  more  and  more  effective ;  in  all  about  1500 
captures  were  made  by  the  Union  fleet,  and  the  trade  of  the 
South  with  the  rest  of  the  world  was  nearly  throttled. 

Energetic  efforts  were  made  by  the  Confederate  authorities  to 

build   a  navy.     They  did   construct  several  fleets  for  harbor 

377.  Con-       defense,  but  their  only  seagoing  ships  were  the  "com- 

navy  and       merce   destroyers."     The  South  at  once  began  to   issue 

privateers     "  letters   of   marque "  (commissions  to  private  ships   to 

capture  Union  merchantmen)  and  also  to  send  out  cruisers,  or 

public  armed  ships.      At  first  the  United  States  tried  to  make 

out  that  the  crews  of  such  vessels  were  pirates,  and  several  of 


PERIOD   OF  UNCERTAINTIES   (1861-1862)  439 

these  men  were  convicted  and  sentenced  to  death ;  but  Presi- 
dent Davis  threatened  to  execute  an  equal  number  of  Union 
soldiers  held  as  prisoners,  and  the  United  States  finally 
decided  to  treat  them  as  prisoners  of  war. 

Several  vessels  were  also  fitted  out  as  Confederate  ships  of 
war  in  British  ports;  of  these  the  principal  ones  were:  (1)  the 
Florida  (formerly  the  Oreto),  purchased  and  allowed  to  go  to 
sea  from  a  British  port  in  March,  1862,  contrary  to  the  protest 
of  our  minister;  (2)  the  Alabama,  which  was  built  at  Liver- 
pool for  the  Confederacy,  and  although  Minister  Adams  steadily 
protested,  slipped  away  to  sea  (July,  1862),  her  crew  and  guns 
coming  out  to  her  on  another  ship;  (3)  the  Shenandoah  (for- 
merly the  Sea  King),  which  put  to  sea  in  October,  1864.  These 
three  vessels,  with  a  few  others,  following  the  American 
precedent  of  the  Revolution  and  War  of  1812,  found  a  rich 
prey  in  the  American  merchant  ships,  of  which  the  total  num- 
ber captured  was  260,  valued  at  $20,000,000.  Such  was  the 
dread  of  capture  that  many  American  ships  were  sold  to  foreign 
firms  so  as  to  be  safe  under  neutral  flags.  Gradually  the  United 
States  navy  hunted  out  and  blockaded,  took,  or  sank  all  these 
vessels  except  the  Shenaiidoah,  which  was  still  at  work  when 
the  war  ended. 

The  Confederate  government  moved  from  Montgomery  to 
Richmond  after  Virginia  seceded.  The  "  permanent  constitu- 
tion," which  went  into   effect   February  18,  1862,   was 

378.  The 
nearly  the  old  federal  Constitution  over  again,  with  the       southern 

significant   change  that  the  word    "slave"   was  freely       Confeder- 

Jicy  etna.  Jet- 
used ;   but  in   practice  many  parts  of  this  Constitution  ferson 

never  went  into  effect;  for  instance,  the  Supreme  Court  Davis 

was  never  formed,  the  executive  overshadowed  the  rest  of  the 

government,  and  state  rights  were  often  disregarded. 

The  head  and  type  of  the  Confederacy,  President  Jefferson 

Davis,  born  in  Kentucky  (1808),  was  educated  at  West  Point 

and  served  seven  years  as  lieutenant  in  the  army.     From  1845 

hart's  amer.  hist. — 26 


440 


CIVIL    WAR 


to  1851  he  was  in  Congress,  and  a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  War, 
where  he  served  with  distinction.  From  1853  to  1857  he  was 
Pierce's  Secretary  of  War,  and  then  as  senator  from  Missis- 
sippi came  forward  as  the  leader  of  the  ultra  proslavery  men 
in  Congress.      After  the  election  of  Lincoln,  Davis  used  his 

place  and  influence,  be- 
fore resigning  from  the 
Senate  of  the  United 
States,  to  bring  about  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union. 
During  the  war  he  was 
almost  a  civil  dictator, 
acting  through  his  influ- 
ence on  the  Confederate 
Congress;  his  veto  was 
overridden  but  once  in 
four  years. 

In  the  speeches  and 
public  papers  of  Davis 
he  simply  accepted  as  a 
matter  of  course,  not  sub- 
ject to  argument,  that  negroes  were  no  part  of  the  political  com- 
munity ;  he  also  tacitly  assumed  that  the  ruling  class,  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  were  entitled  to  govern  their  fellow  white 
men.  In  both  respects  he  satisfied  the  public  sentiment  of 
the  South,  which,  on  the  whole,  loyally  supported  him  to  the 
end.  He  was  a  type  of  the  resolute,  masterful,  slaveholder 
statesman. 
The   United  States  was  slow  in   sending  out  a  new  min- 


Copyright,  1867,  by  Anderson. 

Jefferson  Davis,  about  1870. 


379.  Bel- 
ligerency ; 
the  Trent 
(1861) 

Am.  Ann. 
Cyclopaedia, 
1861,  p.  624 


ister  to  Great  Britain,  and  on  the  day  before  Charles 
Francis  Adams  reached  London,  the  British  government 
issued  (May  13,  1861)  a  proclamation  of  neutrality  in 
the  contest  between  "The  United  States  of  America, 
and   certain  states  styling  themselves  the  Confederate 


PERIOD   OF   UNCERTAINTIES    (1861-1862)  441 

States  of  America."  Other  European  governments  followed. 
This  was  a  formal  recognition  that  there  was  a  belligerent 
•  power  in  the  southern  states,  a  government  that  had  armies 
in  the  field,  and  war  ships  on  the  sea  which  were  entitled  to  the 
same  treatment  in  foreign  ports  as  the  public  ships  of  the  Union. 
Although  President  Lincoln's  proclamation  of  blockade  practi- 
cally recognized  this  "  belligerency,"  the  North  long  cherished 
wrath  against  Great  Britain  for  thus  treating  the  Civil  War  as 
a  war  instead  of  as  a  domestic  rebellion. 

To  the  Confederacy  the  action  of  England  seemed  far  too 
weak ;  and  in  1861  commissioners  were  sent  to  Europe  to 
ask  for  full  recognition  as  an  independent  nation.  The 
commissioners,  Mason  and  Slidell,  while  on  their  way  from 
Havana  to  St.  Thomas  in  the  British  merchant  steamer 
Trent,  were  forcibly  taken  off  by  Captain  Wilkes  in  the  United 
States  ship  of  war  San  Jacinto  (November  8,  1861).  The 
country  and  Congress  were  delighted  at  the  capture  ;  but  Lin- 
coln pointed  out  that  the  search  of  neutral  ships  was  just 
what  drove  the  United  States  to  war  in  1812.  Lord  Palmer- 
ston,  British  prime  minister,  prepared  a  dispatch  which  might 
have  led  to  immediate  war ;  but  Queen  Victoria  insisted  that  a 
more  peaceful  tone  should  be  taken.  On  the  other  side,  Lin- 
coln and  the  Cabinet  saw  that  to  stand  out  meant  war  with 
Great  Britain  and  the  success  of  the  Confederacy,  and  they 
prudently  decided  that  it  was  very  doubtful  whether,  under 
the  principles  of  international  law,  Mason  and  Slidell  were 
rightfully  taken,  and  the  two  men  were  finally  given  up. 

Congress  met  in  special  session,  July  4,  1861,  to  provide  for 
the  war.     The  "  Morrill  Tariff "  had  already  passed  in  March 
after  many  southern  members  had  withdrawn  from  Con-        380.  Na- 
gress ;  it  restored  the  rates  of  the  tariff  of  1846,  but  added         finances 
some  high  protective  duties.      At  various  times  through-  (1861-1864) 
out  the  war  the  tariff  was   raised  and  raised  again,  and  Con- 
gress soon  began  to  lay  new  taxes  of  many  kinds:   the   old- 


442  CIVIL   WAR 

fashioned  excise ;  duties  on  incomes  (bringing  in  $347,000,000 
in  all) ;  duties  on  manufacturing ;  direct  taxes  on  the  states ; 
licenses  for  professions;  stamp  duties  in  many  ingenious  forms; 
taxes  on  everything  that  could  be  reached.  The  taxes  rose 
from  $40,000,000  in  1860  to  $490,000,000  in  1865;  but 
they  did  not  keep  pace  with  the  expenditures,  which  were 
$66,000,000  in  1860,  and  $1,290,000,000  in  1864.  To  meet 
the  deficits,  heavy  loans  were  secured;  and  the  government 
debt  grew  from  $90,000,000  in  1861  to  nearly  $3,000,000,000 
in  1866,  bearing  an  interest  of  $133,000,000  a  year. 

Another  great  change  was  a  complete  revolution  in  currency 
and  banking.  In  1862  Congress  authorized  the  issue  of  "  legal 
tender  notes,"  that  is,  paper  money  which  must  be  accepted 
if  offered  by  debtors  to  creditors.  These  "  greenbacks  "  grad- 
ually grew  to  over  $450,000,000.  Congress  in  1863  chartered 
a  system  of  national  banks,  and  soon  after  laid  a  tax  of  10  per 
cent  on  the  notes  of  the  state  banks,  which  drove  those  notes 
out  of  circulation,  and  caused  many  of  the  banks  to  accept 
national  bank  charters. 

It  is  time  to  take  up  the  thread  of  narrative  history.     For  a 

few  weeks  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  Washington  was  in 

381   The       danger  ;  but  the  militia  and  volunteer  regiments  pushed 

war  in  the     forward  and  saved  it;  and  it  was  then  strongly  forti- 

East  (1861)   fie(L     A  Confederate  force  of  about  23,000  men  under 

Beauregard  was  lying  at  Manassas  Junction,  thirty  miles  from 
Washington  (map,  p.  449)  ;  and  the  country  loudly  called  for 
somebody  to  break  up  that  army.  Against  the  judgment  of 
the  military  men,  a  force  of  30,000  Union  troops,  under  General 
McDowell,  attacked  at  Bull  Run  (July  21,  1861),  not  knowing 
that  Joseph  E.  Johnston  had  brought  6000  more  men  from  the 
Shenandoah. 

When  the  federal  onset  was  checked  by  a  Virginia  brigade 
LottCa\  under  command  of  Thomas  J.  Jackson,  a  bystander  cried, 
146  "There  are  Jackson  and  his  Virginians  standing  like  a 


PERIOD   OF  UNCERTAINTIES    (1861-1862) 


443 


stone  wall ! "  and  as  "  Stonewall  Jackson  "  he  has  gone  down  in 
history.  Nevertheless  the  Confederate  army  was  weakening, 
when  3000  fresh  troops  arrived  on  the  field  by  railroad, 
and  the  Union  lines  broke.  Says  an  eyewitness,  '•  For 
three  miles  hosts  of  federal  troops,  all  detached  from  their 
regiments,  all  mingled  in  one  disorderly  rout,  were  fleeing 
along  the  road."  The 
Union  loss  was  2700 
men,  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing,  besides  twenty- 
eight  guns. 

The  North  profited  by 
Bull  Run  more  than  the 
South,  for  it  came  to 
realize  the  task  before  it. 
President  Lincoln  held 
his  courage,  and  within 
three  days  was  making 
preparation  for  new  cam- 
paigns in  both  East  and 

West.    George  B.  McClel-  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson,  in  1862. 

Ian,  who  had  shown  military  genius  in  West  Virginia,  was  at 
once  put  in  command  of  the  army  in  front  of  Washington, 
and  in  November  became  commander  of  all  the  armies  of  the 
United  States.  During  the  next  nine  months  he  devoted 
himself  to  organizing  an  "  Army  of  the  Potomac."  Day  after 
day,  week  after  week,  the  only  news  from  that  part  of  the  front 
was  the  stereotyped  telegram,  "  All  quiet  on  the  Potomac." 

Besides  the  blockading  service,  the  Union  navy  in  1861 
began  a  series  of  brilliant  expeditions.  Fort  Hatteras  on  the 
coast  of  North  Carolina  was  captured  (August,  1861) ;  then 
Hilton  Head,  near  Port  Royal,  South  Carolina,  was  taken  by 
Admiral  Dupont  (November,  1861)  with  a  fleet  of  17  vessels. 
His  success  against  heavy  earthworks  gave  much  encourage- 


Hart, 

Source 

Book,  306 


444  CIVIL  WAR 

ment  to  the  navy;  and  a  permanent  post  was  established  at 
Hilton  Head,  only  sixty  miles  from  Charleston.  Several 
islands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River  were  occupied  a 
few  months  later. 

In  the  West  armies  were  quickly  formed  and  began  a  cam- 
paign.    During  1861  Kentucky  was  prevented  from  seceding ; 
382.  Fight-    and  the  federal  troops  under  Lyon  held  a  part  of  Missouri. 
Weit(U61-  In  January»  1862,  General  George  H.  Thomas  beat  the 
April,  1862)  Confederate  Zollicoffer  near  Mill  Springs  on  the  upper 
Cumberland  River.    General  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  who  had  shown 
his  ability  in  a  little  expedition  down  the  Mississippi  to  Bel- 
mont, now  moved  forward.    Flag-Officer  Foote  with  steam  gun- 
boats easily  took  Fort  Henry 
(February   6,  1862).     Grant 
then  besieged  and,  after  three 
days'    fight,    captured    Fort 
Donelson,  with  its  garrison 
of  14,500  men  (February  16  ; 
map,  p.  434).     This  was  the 
A  Mississippi  Ironclad,  1863.  first    large    success     of    the 

From  a  contemporary  print.  Union    army?     and    ft     com. 

pelled  the  Confederates  to  abandon  Kentucky.  Nashville  was 
at  once  occupied  without  a  blow  by  General  Don  Carlos  Buell ; 
and  a  provisional  state  government  was  set  up  for  Tennessee 
with  Andrew  Johnson  as  governor. 

Farther  west  the  Confederates  retreated  down  the  Missis- 
sippi to  a  strong  position  called  Island  No.  10,  which,  however, 
was  captured  by  General  Pope  and  Flag-Officer  Foote  in  April. 
In  March  the  Confederate  army  west  of  the  Mississippi  was 
broken  up  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge.  The  result  of  three 
months'  campaigning  was  therefore  the  gain  by  the  Federals  of 
a  strip  of  territory  a  hundred  miles  wide  and  more  than  five 
hundred  miles  long,  and  it  made  a  military  reputation  for 
Grant,  Buell,  Thomas,  and  Pope,  all  of  whom  later  commanded 


PERIOD   OF   UNCERTAINTIES    (1861-1862)  445 

large  armies,  as  well  as  for  General  Halleck,  who  had  exercised 
general  command  as  head  of  the  Military  Department  of 
Missouri. 

After  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  Halleck  sent  Grant's 
army  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  Tennessee  River.    Halleck's 
department  having  been  enlarged  (March,  1862),  he  or-       3g3  The 
dered   Buell   to   march  from   Nashville   and    unite   his         western 
forces  with  Grant's.     Before  Buell  could  get  up,  how-      ^F^iS 
ever,  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  with  40,000  Confederates,         cember, 
suddenly  attacked  Grant's  army  of  43,000,  April  6,  1862, 
at  Shiloh,  near  Pittsburg  Landing  on  the  Tennessee  River. 
Surprised,  and  as  yet  little  experienced  in  fighting  in  line,  the 
Union  troops  were  driven  back  almost  to  the  river.     General 
W.  T.  Sherman,  one  of  the  division  commanders,  fought  gal- 
lantly ;  General  Johnston  was  killed  on  the  field,  and  Beaure- 
gard succeeded  him.     Next  morning  Buell's  army  of  20,000 
had  arrived  to  reenforce,  the  tables  were  turned,  and  the  Con- 
federates were  driven  from  the  field.     The  total  Union  loss 
was  13,000;  the  Confederate,  11,000. 

Halleck,  taking  immediate  command,  moved  southward,  and 
captured  the  town  of  Corinth,  Mississippi  (May  30),  which 
commanded  the  railroads  east  from  Memphis.  The  river  fleet 
pushed  down  immediately  and  took  Memphis,  and  the  Union 
troops  controlled  the  Mississippi  River,  south  to  the  strongly 
fortified  town  of  Vicksburg. 

The  career  of  victory  was  interrupted  by  a  Confederate  inva- 
sion of  Kentucky.  Under  General  Bragg,  successor  to  Beaure- 
gard, 35,000  men  advanced  to  Chattanooga  (July  31)  and 
then  started  straight  for  Louisville,  which  they  almost  reached 
before  General  Buell  could  occupy  the  city.  The  Union  army 
struck  Bragg  at  Perryville  (October  8),  and  after  a  hot  fight 
he  withdrew  to  Chattanooga  (p.  434).  Buell  was  removed  from 
command,  and  General  Rosecrans  was  appointed  in  his  place 
(October  24,  1862).     Rosecrans  attacked  Bragg  in  the  bloody 


U6 


CIVIL   WAR 


battle  of  Stone  River  or  Murfreesboro  (December  31,  Janu- 
ary 2),  and  compelled  him  to  retire.  At  the  other  end  of  the 
western  line,  during  November  and  December,  Grant  and  Sher- 
man pushed  southward  down  the  Mississippi,  alongside  a  fleet 
of  gunboats  commanded  by  Porter;  but  failed  to  take  Vicksburg. 
Meanwhile,  in  the  spring  of  1862,  Flag-Officer  David  G. 
Farragut  was  sent  out  with  a  fleet  to  force  the  lower  Missis- 

„„,   „  sippi.    Farragut  was  born  in  Tennessee  in  1801,  of  Scotch 

384.  Farra-    ,  , 

gut  and         descent,  and  entered  the  navy  when  ten  years  old,  and 

leans°a862)  serve(i  as  a  midshipman  in  the  War  of  1812.     Though  he 
lived  in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  he  stood  by  the  old  flag  in  1861. 
The  fleet  with  which  he  began  to  operate  against  New  Or- 
leans was  made  up  of  six  steam  frigates  and  forty-two  smaller 

vessels.  Some  time 
after  entering  the 
mouth  of  the  Missis- 


sippi. 


he  notified  the 


fleet  that  as  flag  offi- 
cer he  would  speed- 
ily make  the  signal 
for  close  action  and 
abide  the  result,  — 
"conquer  or  be  con- 
quered." April  24, 
1862,  he  boldly  led 
his  fleet  up  the  river, 
which  was  defended 
by  Forts  Jackson  and 
St.  Philip,  a  strong 
boom,  and  some  Confederate  vessels  ;  a  fireship  came  down 
on  his  flagship  Hartford,  but  the  men  of  one  battery  kept  up 
the  fight,  while  the  other  half  put  out  the  fire.  At  the  end 
of  the  fight  the  boom  was  destroyed,  his  vessels  were  beyond 
the  forts,  and  there  was  nothing  to  stop  the  fleet,  which  shortly 


David  G.  Farragut. 
Statue  by  St.  Gaudens,  in  New  York. 


PERIOD   OF   UNCERTAINTIES   (1861-1862) 


447 


anchored  in  front  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans ;  and  the  forts 
soon  surrendered.  A  large  force  of  Union  troops  soon  after 
took  possession  of  New  Orleans,  under  command  of  General 
Butler,  who  for  a  year  ruled  the  city  like  a  conquered  province. 
By  March,  1862,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  stationed  in  the 
forts  around  Washington,  had  grown  to  185,000  men,  eager  to 
show  their  quality  and  to  move  "on  to  Richmond."  After 
many  conferences  and  disagreements,  McClellan  decided  385.  Merri- 
to  march  up  the  peninsula  between  the  James  and  York  Monitor 
rivers,  where  his  flank  could  be  protected  by  the  fleet  (1862) 

at  Hampton  Roads.  It  was  known  that  the  Confederates 
at  Norfolk  were  rebuilding  the  former  United  States  frigate 
Merrimac  into  a  powerful  ironclad;  and  to  meet  this  danger 


Merrimac  and  Monitor,  1862. 


John  Ericsson,  an  inventor  in  New  York,  had  prepared  plans 
for  an  armored  craft  of  totally  different  design,  a  little  "cheese- 
box  on  a  raft,"  with  a  revolving  turret  carrying  two  heavy 
guns,  mounted  on  a  deck  almost  flush  with  the  water.     This 


448  CIVIL   WAR 

ship,  named  the  Monitor,  was  built  in  one  hundred  days,  and 
sent  down  from  New  York. 

The  Merrimac,  which  the  Confederates  had  renamed  the  Vir- 
ginia, unexpectedly  came  out  March  8,  1862.  She  steamed 
slowly  but  steadily  to  the  Union  fleet  in  Hampton  Roads,  and 
attacked  and  destroyed  the  wooden  sloop  of  war  Cumberland 
and  the  frigate  Congress.  Next  morning  the  Merrimac  ap- 
peared again,  but  found,  in  front  of  the  rest  of  her  prey,  the 
little  Monitor,  arrived  during  the  night;  and  for  five  hours 
the  two  ships  pounded  each  other.  Neither  could  destroy  her 
adversary,  but  the  Merrimac  finally  retired,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  dangers  of  the  whole  war  was  safely  passed,  for  not 
another  vessel  in  the  world  could  have  stopped  the  Confederate 
ship.  She  never  made  another  attack,  and  in  May,  when 
Norfolk  was  captured,  she  was  scuttled  and  burned  by  her 
own  crew. 

In  April,  1862,  McClellan  was  at  last  ready  to  attack,  but, 
to  his  deep  disappointment,  the  President  detached  General 
386.  The  McDowell  with  40,000  troops  to  cover  Washington. 
Peninsular  McClellan's  army  slowly  made  its  way  up  the  peninsula, 
(April-July,  spent  about  a  month  in  the  scientific  siege  of  Yorktown, 
1862)  — a  weak  place,  defended  in  part  with  "Quaker  guns," 

made  of  painted  logs  of  wood;  fought  a  battle  at  Williamsburg; 
and  then  moved  steadily  forward  to  the  neighborhood  of  Rich- 
mond. The  official  returns  later  showed  that  McClellan  had 
about  115,000  present  for  duty  against  about  90,000  in  the 
Confederate  army,  which  was  commanded  by  General  Joseph 
E.  Johnston. 

In  front  of  Richmond  was  the  Chickahominy  River,  with 
broad,  swampy  bottoms.  Through  and  around  this  barrier 
McClellan  advanced  till  May  31,  when  he  was  checked  at  the 
battles  of  Seven  Pines  and  Fair  Oaks,  only  seven  miles  from 
Richmond.  Johnston  was  wounded,  and  next  day  Robert  E. 
Lee  took  command  of  the  Confederate  Army  of  Northern  Vir- 


PERIOD   OF   UNCERTAINTIES    (1861-1802) 


449 


ginia.  Meanwhile,  McDowell  had  been  ordered  to  join  McClel- 
lan  on  the  north ;  but  Stonewall  Jackson,  in  a  brilliant  campaign 
in  the  Shenandoah  valley,  threatened  Washington,  and  Lincoln 
a  second  time  withheld  McDowell's  corps.  Jackson  thereupon 
suddenly  joined   Lee;    so   that   instead    of  forcing  the  fight, 


!U  ~30      40      50  -^J- 

Union  Routes  

Confederate  Routes 


Virginia  Campaigns  of  1861-1862. 

McClellan  found  himself  attacked.  Then  followed  the  terrible 
"  seven  days'  fighting,"  in  which  McClellan  was  forced  to  give 
way  and  retreat  to  the  James  River  (June  26  to  July  1),  end- 
ing at  Malvern  Hill.  This  so-called  "change  of  base"  was  a 
confession  of  defeat. 

In  thirty-one  days  McClellan  had  lost  over  21,000  men  and 
the  enemy  about  27,000 ;  but  they  had  saved  their  capital  and 


450  CIVIL  WAR 

the  Confederacy  for  the  time.     In  the  sting  of  defeat  McClel- 

lan  telegraphed  to  Secretary  Stanton :  "  I  have  lost  this  battle 

McClelland    because  mJ  force  was  too  small.  ...     If  I  save  this  army 

Own  story,    now,  I  tell  you  plainly  that  I  owe  no  thanks  to  you 
June  24  L.  J 

or  to  any  other  persons  in  Washington.     You  have  done 

your  best  to  sacrifice  this  army."  McClellan  was  a  brave 
man  and  a  natural  leader,  always  heartily  trusted  and  loyally 
obeyed  by  his  subordinates,  and  he  knew  how  to  handle 
troops;  but  he  was  misled  by  his  secret-service  agents,  who 
reported  that  the  Confederate  army  was  much  larger  than 
his  own,  he  was  never  willing  to  attack  unless  he  was  sure 
that  he  would  win,  and  he  was  exceedingly  unjust  to  Stanton 
and  Lincoln. 

Undismayed  by  the  fearful  losses  of  the  Peninsular  Cam- 
paign, the  President  in  July,  1862,  called  for  300,000  more 
387.  Bull       men;    and   420,000    soon    responded.      McClellan    was 

Fredericks-    eager  to  advance   a§ain  on  Richmond,  but  he  had  lost 
burg  (Aug.-  the  confidence  of  the  administration ;  and  General  Hal- 
Dec,  1862)     leck  wag  summoned  t0  Washington  (July  11)  to  be  con- 
fidential military  adviser  to  the  President,  under  the  title  of 
general  in  chief. 

General  Pope,  a  western  officer,  received  command  of  the 
new  Army  of  Virginia,  to  which  was  gradually  added  most  of 
the  old  Army  of  the  Potomac,  now  withdrawn  from  the  James. 
He  was  little  known  to  his  subordinates,  few  of  whom  liked  or 
trusted  him.  Pope  operated  in  the  desolate  and  swampy  coun- 
try about  fifty  miles  southwest  of  Washington,  till  outmarched 
and  attacked  by  Stonewall  Jackson's  "foot  cavalry."  This 
led  to  a  three  days'  contest  near  the  old  battlefield  of  Bull 
Run  (August  28^30,  1862),  and  Pope  was  so  badly  defeated 
that  the  army  was  withdrawn  to  the  neighborhood  of  Wash- 
ington. 

For  the  first  time  there  was  a  chance  to  carry  the  war  into 
the  North.     Lee's  army  crossed  the  Potomac  and  took  Har- 


PERIOD   OF  UNCERTAINTIES   (1861-1862) 


451 


pers  Ferry,  with  a  garrison  of  12,500  men  (September  15). 
McClellan  was  again  put  in  active  command  after  the  second 
Bull  Run,  and  attacked  Lee  on  the  Antietam  (near  Sharps- 
burg)  just  north  of  the  Potomac  (September  17).  This  was 
the  best  opportunity  in  the  whole  war  to  end  the  contest  by 
destroying  Lee's  army ;  but  after  a  federal  loss  of  over  12,000, 
and  a  Confederate  loss  of  14,000,  Lee's  army  was  allowed  to 
withdraw  across  the  Potomac  intact. 


Field  Gun  going  into  Action. 
From  a  war-time  lithograph  by  Forbes. 

A  few  weeks  later  (November  5,  1862)  McClellan  was  re- 
moved, and  General  Burnside  was  appointed  to  succeed  him. 
Burnside  marched  to  the  Rappahannock  River,  beyond  which 
Lee  with  80,000  men  intrenched  himself.  On  December  13, 
1862,  the  federal  army  of  113,000  men  attacked  in  front  near 
Fredericksburg  and  was  defeated  in  one  of  the  bloodiest  bat- 
tles of  the  war,  with  a  loss  of  11,000  killed  and  wounded,  and 
without  the  slightest  military  advantage. 


452  CIVIL   WAR 

At  the  end  of  1862  the  war  had  practically  lasted  a  year  and 
a  half.  In  the  East  four  successive  attacks  by  large  armies 
388.  Sum-  failed :  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  under  McDowell ;  the 
mary  Peninsular  Campaign ;  Pope's  campaign ;  and  the  Fred- 

ericksburg light.  In  spite  of  heavy  losses  and  heroic  fighting, 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  could  not  cross  the  120  miles  between 
Richmond  and  Washington.  On  the  other  hand,  Lee  could 
not  invade  the  North  beyond  a  few  miles  in  Maryland,  or 
capture  Washington;  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  still 
intact  and  impatient  for  a  new  trial. 

In  the  West  the  army  pushed  steadily  southward,  took  Port 
Henry,  Fort  Donelson,  Island  No.  10,  Nashville,  and  Corinth, 
and  was  pushing  down  the  Mississippi  River.  Bragg's  Ken- 
tucky campaign  was  checked  at  Perryville.  The  western  army 
was  full  of  confidence,  and  began  to  know  and  appreciate  its 
commanders,  especially  Grant,  Sherman,  Thomas,  and  Rose- 
crans,  who,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  began  an  advance  against 
Bragg ;  the  battle  on  the  Stone  River  was  the  first  step  toward 
seizing  the  highway  through  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta. 

At  sea  the  blockade  grew  more  and  more  effective,  and  sev- 
eral points  on  the  Atlantic  coast  were  taken.  The  capture  of 
New  Orleans  was  a  great  blow  to  the  prestige  of  the  South, 
and  took  away  the  control  of  the  Mississippi  River.  After 
the  success  of  the  Monitor,  other  ships  of  the  same  type  were 
speedily  built,  so  that  there  was  no  longer  danger  from  Con- 
federate vessels  of  war. 

TOPICS 

Suggestive  (1)  Was  the  war  brought  on  chiefly  over  the  question  of  state 

topics  rightg  ?     (2)  How  could  the  gouth  furnish  l5230,000  soldiers  out  of 

a  white  population  of  5,300,000?  (3)  Why  were  civilians  ap- 
pointed as  generals  in  the  northern  army  ?  (4)  Was  the  British 
proclamation  of  neutrality  unfriendly  ?  (5)  Was  Captain  Wilkes 
justified  in  seizing  Mason  and  Slidell  ?  (6)  Why  were  Mason  and 
Slidell  given  up  ?     (7)  Where  did  the  government  borrow  such 


topics 


PERIOD   OF   UNCERTAINTIES    (1861-1862)  453 

immense  sums?  (8)  Was  it  necessary  to  make  the  paper  notes 
legal  tender'?     (9)  Why  was  Fort  Donelson  so  quickly  taken? 

(10)  Why  did  McClellan  choose  the  peninsular  route  to  Richmond  ? 

(11)  Why  did  the  Monitor  beat  the  Merrimac  ?  (12)  How  did 
Farragut  force  the  forts  on  the  Mississippi  River?  (13)  How 
did  Bragg  get  so  far  north  in  Kentucky  ? 

(14)  Exchange  of  prisoners  during  the  Civil  War.  (15)  De-  Search 
struction  of  the  navy  yard  at  Norfolk  in  1861.  (16)  The  southern 
mountains  and  mountaineers  in  the  war.  (17)  Methods  of  raising 
troops  in  the  North.  (18)  Methods  of  raising  troops  in  the  South. 
(19)  Adventures  of  blockade  runners.  (20)  Life  in  the  blockad- 
ing squadron.  (21)  The  cruise  of  the  Alabama.  (22)  The  cruise 
of  the  Shenandoah.  (23)  Jefferson  Davis  as  president  of  the  Con- 
federacy. (24)  The  income  tax  during  the  Civil  War.  (25)  The 
military  career  of  Stonewall  Jackson.  (26)  McClellan  as  the  or- 
ganizer of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  (27)  Butler's  administration 
of  New  Orleans.  (28)  The  withdrawal  of  McDowell's  corps  from 
McClellan's  army.  (29)  Military  services  of  a  northern  general, 
as,  for  example,  Thomas,  Sheridan,  Rosecrans,  Grant,  Sherman,  etc. 
(30)  Services  of  a  southern  general,  as  Beauregard,  A.  S.  Johnson, 
J.  E.  Johnston,  Bragg,  Lee,  T.  J.  Jackson,  etc.  (31)  Military 
services  of  a  naval  officer,  as  David  D.  Porter,  Farragut,  etc. 
(32)  Controversy  about  Fitz-John  Porter,  August,  1862. 


REFERENCES 

See  map,  pp.  434,  435;  special  maps  in  Dodge,  Ropes,  Rhodes,    Geography 
Battles  and  Leaders  ;  atlas  of  the  Official  Becords  of  the  Bebellion  ; 
Semple,    Geographic   Conditions,    280-308;   Brigham,    Geographic 
Influences,  200-229  ;  Hosmer,  Appeal  to  Arms. 

Dodge,  Civil  War,  8-94,  102-126 ;  Hosmer,  Appeal  to  Arms ;  Secondary 
Ropes,  Civil  War,  I.  98-274,  II.  ;  Schouler,  United  States,  VI.  50- 
214,  232-260,  282-287,  290-316  ;  Rhodes,  United  States,  III.  415-630, 
IV.  1-57,  95-157,  173-199,  237-239,  427,  428  ;  Wilson,  American 
People,  IV.  208-229,  237-240,  265-312  ;  Cambridge  Modern  History, 
VII.  450-484,  491-501,  549-575,  603-621  ;  Dewey,  Financial  His- 
tory, §§  117-140  ;  Taussig,  Tariff  History,  155-170  ;  Foster,  Cen- 
tury of  Diplomacy,  357-380 ;  Nicolay,  Outbreak  of  Bebellion,  82-221 ; 
Fiske,  Mississippi  Valley  in  the  Civil  War,  1-178  ;  Maclay,  United 
States  Navy,  II.  159-364,  508-548  ;  Webb,  The  Peninsula  ;  Ropes, 
Army  under  Pope  ;  Palfrey,  Antietam  and  Fredericksburg  ;  Force, 
Fort  Henry  to  Corinth ;  Cist,  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  1-135 ; 
Soley,  Blockade  and  the  Cruisers  ;  Ammen,  Atlantic  Coast,  1-73, 


authorities 


454 


CIVIL   WAR 


163-199  ;  Mahan,  Gulf  and  Inland  Waters,  1-109  ;  Morse,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  I.  273-387,  II.  31-94,  134-139,  170,  171  ;  Bancroft, 
W.  H  Seward,  II.  163-253  ;  Hart,  S.  P.  Chase,  211-252,  274-289; 
Adams,  C.  F.  Adams,  147-239;  Michie,  General  McClellan,  69- 
442,459-475;  Wilson,  General  Grant,  74-159,  330-339;  Lee,  Gen- 
eral Lee,  99-239 ;  Hughes,  General  Johnston,  36-156  ;  Hovey, 
Stonewall  Jackson,  1-107. 

Sources  Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  116-119,—  Contemporaries,  IV.  §§75, 

80,  84-95,  98,  99,  102-116,  —  Source  Headers,  IV.  §§  30-42,  49-71, 
74-80,  90-109  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Statutes,  nos.  2-16,  19,  21-27, 
30,  37  ;  American  History  Leaflets,  nos.  18,  26  ;  Riddle,  Becol- 
lections,  28-128,  168-198;  Grant,  Personal  Memoirs,  I.  229-421; 
Century  Company,  Battles  and  Leaders,  I.  99-750,  II.  III.  1-147  ; 
American  Annual  Cyclopedia,  1861,  1862;  Hosmer,  Color  Guard, 
—  Thi?iking  Bayonet ;  Goss,  Becollections  of  a  Private  ;  Higginson, 
Army  Life  in  a  Black  Begiment ;  W.  T.  Sherman,  Memoirs;  South 
and  West ;  Manassas  to  Appomattox  ;  E.  Eggleston,  BebeVs  Becol- 
lections ;  Jones,  Bebel  War  Clerk's  Diary.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist. 
Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  354-356,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  88. 

Matthews,  Boems  of  American  Batriotism,  127-214  ;  Moore, 
Lyrics  of  Loyalty,  —  Bebel  Bhymes  ;  Eggleston,  American  War 
Ballads,  I.  167-226,  II.  3-105  ;  Lowell,  Biglow  Papers  (second 
series),  —  Washers  of  the  Shroud;  C.  F.  Browne,  Artemus  Ward  : 
His  Book,  —  Artemus  Ward  :  His  Travels;  R.  H.  Newell,  Orpheus 
C.  Kerr  Bapers  ;  R.  G.  White,  New  Gospel  of  Peace  ;  J.  T.  Trow- 
bridge, Drummer  Boy,  —  Cudjo's  Cave ;  B.  K.  Benson,  Who  Goes 
There  ?    Charles  Morris,  Historical  Tales,  270-291. 

Pictures  Century  Company,  Battles  and  Leaders  ;   Harper's  Pictorial 

History  of  the  Bebellion  ;  Edwin  Forbes,  Artist's  Story  of  the 
Great  War  ;  E.  R.  Johnson,  Campfire  and  Battlefield  ;  Harper's 
Weekly ;  Frank  Leslie's  Weekly. 


Illustrative 
works 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


EMANCIPATION   AND   MILITARY   ADVANCE   (1862-1863) 


As  the  war  went  on,  it  became  evident  that  its  purpose  could 
not  be  limited,  as  proposed  by  the  resolution  of  July,  1861,  to 
restoring  the  Union  as  it  was;  for  slavery  could  not  be        389.  The 
kept  out  of  the  contest.     A  recognized  measure  of  war  contra- 

against  a  slaveholding  country  is  for  the  invading  com-  (1861-1862) 
mander  to  declare  the  slaves  of  his  enemy  free ;  and  Congress 
made  an  indirect  use  of  this  power  in  August,  18G1,  through  a 
confiscation  act  pro- 
viding that  if  slaves  X vN  I  I- iLl "  I  "  il 
were  used  in  promot- 
ing any  insurrection, 
"the  owners  should 
'  forfeit '     claim     to 
such  labor." 

As  soon  as  the  ar- 
mies began  to  move, 
hundreds  of  negroes 
took  matters  into 
their  own  hands  by 
running    away     and 

coming  into  the  federal  camps.  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
in  command  at  Fort  Monroe,  found  more  than  a  thousand  such 
refugees.  When  he  was  asked  to  surrender  some  fugitives  to 
their  masters,  who  came  from  within  the  Confederate  lines  to 
claim  them,  he  replied,  "  I  shall  detain  the  negroes  as  contra- 
band of  war."  The  phrase  struck  the  popular  fancy,  and  from 
hart's  amer.  hist.  — 27  455 


Arrival  of  Contrabands,  1862. 
From  war-time  sketches. 


456  CIVIL   WAR 

that  time  to  the  end  of  the  war,  "contraband"  meant  a  south- 
ern slave,  usually  a  refugee.  Two  Union  generals  tried  to  go 
farther.  General  Fremont  (August,  1861)  and  General  Hunter 
(May,  1862)  issued  proclamations  freeing  the  slaves  in  their 
military  districts,  and  even  beyond;  but  President  Lincoln 
disavowed  both  the  proclamations,  because  slavery  was  too 
large  a  question  to  be  settled  by  subordinates. 

On  slavery  Congress  at  first  outran  the  President,  and  in 
1862  passed  three  sweeping  emancipation  acts  :  — 

390.  Eman-  (1)  The  3000  slaves  in  the  District  of  Columbia  were 
Congress*7  set  free  (APril  16>  1862),  and  their  masters  were  given  a 
(1862-1864)  compensation  of  about  $300  for  each  one. 

(2)  In  flat  contradiction  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision  of  1857, 
Congress  passed  a  statute  (June  19, 1862)  immediately  abolish- 
ing slavery  in  every  territory,  without  compensation. 

(3)  A  strong  feeling  of  personal  wrath  against  the  leaders 
on  the  other  side  caused  Congress  to  provide,  in  a  second  confis- 
cation act  (July  17,  1862),  for  the  seizure  of  all  the  property 
of  people  convicted  of  treason,  or  who  "engaged  in  armed 
rebellion,"  including  such  slaves  of  rebel  owners  as  might  in 
any  manner  come  inside  the  Union  lines.  Though  Lincoln 
thought  it  "startling  to  say  that  Congress  can  free  a  slave 
within  a  State,"  he  signed  the  bill ;  and  as  fast  as  the  federal 
lines  extended,  thousands  of  slaves  flocked  to  the  federal 
camps,  and  thus  became  free. 

By  this  time  it  became  necessary  to  prove  to  foreign  nations 
that  the  North  was  making  war  in  behalf  of  freedom,  and  not 

391.  Danger   simply  for  the  sake  of  ruling  the  South,  for  the  blockade 

of  foreign      cu£  0ff  ftie  raw  material  for   the  foreign  cotton  manu- 

mterven- 

tion  factures,  so  that  thousands  of  English  and  French  work- 

(1862-1863)   men  were  thrown  out  of  work.     Napoleon  III.,  emperor 

of  the  French,  was  trying  to  conquer  Mexico  and  had  no  liking 

for  the  North ;  and  the  ruling  aristocracy  of  England  made  no 

secret  of  its  hope  that  the  South  would  succeed.    That  brilliant 


EMANCIPATION   (1862)  457 

young  statesman,  William  E.  Gladstone,  publicly  said,  "Jeffer- 
son Davis  and  other  leaders  of  the  South  have  made  an  Rhodes, 
army ;  they  are  making,  it  appears,  a  navy  ;  and  they  have  stat^ 
made,  which  is  more  important  than  either  ...  a  nation."          IV.  339 

Southern  agents  in  Europe  strove  hard  to  persuade  foreign 
powers  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  South.  After 
the  defeats  of  McClellan  and  Pope  in  1862,  Lord  Palmer- 
ston,  the  British  prime  minister,  was  on  the  point  of  offer- 
ing a  "mediation,"  which  would  have  been  partial  recognition; 
but  there  was  a  strong  Union  sentiment  in  England,  especially 
among  the  workmen  in  the  cotton  mills,  who  felt  that  the 
rights  of  free  labor  were  involved,  and  they  were  represented 
in  Parliament  by  the  orator  John  Bright.  The  defeat  of  the 
ironclad  Merrimac,  the  battle  of  Antietam,  and  still  more  the 
successes  in  the  West  during  1862,  took  away  the  pretexts  for 
immediate  recognition. 

The  man  for  this  crisis  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  one  indis- 
pensable figure  in  the  Civil  War.     Two  characteristics  made 
him  the  greatest  man  of  his  time  :  his  practical  common     392.  Abra- 
sense  went  straight  home  to  the  essential  point  in  every-    ^i^^eH}" 
thing  that   he  was   considering ;  and  a  quick  sensitive  dent 

heart  knew  by  instinct  the  beliefs  and  hopes  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen.  Toward  the  weak  and  needy,  Lincoln  had  a 
tender  feeling.  He  could  not  even  bear  to  sign  the  death  war- 
rant of  a  deserter,  for,  he  said,  "  I  am  trying  to  evade  the 
butchering  business."  TI13  same  sympathy  and  sweetness  of 
character  were  shown  in  a  thousand  ways  to  the  people  who 
beset  the  White  House  with  their  little  personal  errands  — 
the  poor  woman  whose  only  son  was  sick  in  the  hospital,  or 
the  boy  who  wanted  a  commission,  or  the  stranger  who  came 
in  from  mere  curiosity. 

Although  Lincoln  always  distrusted  his  own  military  judg- 
ment, he  learned  to  understand  the  conditions  of  war  better 
than  most  of  his  commanders;    and  his  writings  are  full  of 


458  CIVIL    WAR 

quaint  telegrams  to  his  generals ;  for  example :  "  Fight  him, 

too,  when  opportunity  offers.     If  he  stays  where  he  is, 
Lincoln,  '      .  ,  . 

Works,  II.      fret  him  and  fret  him."    On  another  side  of  his  character, 

345  Lincoln    was   the  shrewdest  politician  of  his  time ;   he 

was  very  keen  in  judging  election  returns ;  he  knew  how 
to  keep  congressmen  good-natured  with  offices.  Yet  he  had 
unyielding  tenacity  when  necessary.  To  General  Grant  he 
once  telegraphed:  "I  have  seen  your  dispatch  expressing  your 
unwillingness  to  break  your  hold  where  you  are.  Neither  am 
I  willing.  Hold  on  with  a  bulldog  grip,  and  chew  and  choke 
as  much  as  possible." 

During  the  first  three  years  of  the  war,  Lincoln  was  criti- 
cised or  even  deserted  by  many  members  of  his  own  party, 
who  thought  him  weak  and  indecisive  because  he  held  a  tem- 
perate middle  course,  avoiding  extremes.  Only  by  degrees  did 
people  begin  to  understand  that  this  plain,  homely  man  in  the 
White  House  had  a  spirit  of  surpassing  wisdom,  and  an  unself- 
ish care  for  his  country's  welfare.  Patient  in  defeat,  calm  in 
victory,  Abraham  Lincoln  came  to  be  recognized  as  a  true 
father  of  his  country. 

Throughout  1862  President  Lincoln  was  brooding  over  the 
question  of   his  duty  to  his  country,  and  his  power  as  con- 

393.  Pre-      stitutional  commander  in  chief  to  declare  free  all  the 

liminaries      slaves   in   the    Confederacy.       Lincoln   was    born   in    a 
of  emanci- 
pation border  slave  state,  understood  the  southern  people,  and 

(1862)  was  anxious  not  to  take  any  step  which  would  drive 

Kentucky  and  Missouri  out  of  the  Union.     Therefore,  he  sent 

to  Congress  a  message  (March,  1862)  urging  that  the  federal 

government  cooperate  with  the  states  in  setting  the  slaves  free, 

with  a  money  payment  to  the  masters. 

Lincoln  said  of  himself:   "I  am  naturally  antislavery.     If 

Morse  slavery  is  not  wrong,  nothing  is  wrong";   and  at    an- 

Lincoln,  105    0ther  time,    "  You  must  not  expect  me  to  give  up  this 

government  without  playing  my  last  card."     In  August,  1862, 


EMANCIPATION  (1863)  459 

Horace  Greeley  came  out  in  the  Tribune  with  what  he  called  the 
"  Prayer  of  Twenty  Millions,"  violently  abusing  the  President 
for  his  "  mistaken  deference  to  rebel  slavery."  The  President 
replied  in  a  public  letter,  "My  paramount  object  ...  is  to  save 
the  Union,  it  is  not  either  to  save  or  to  destroy  slavery." 

At  last  Lincoln  made  up  his  mind  that  the  best  way  to  save 
the  Union  was  to  free  the  slaves.     Calling  his  Cabinet  together 
September  22,  1862,  he  read  them  the  draft  of  a  pre-     394.  Proc- 
liminary  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  which  declared  1^natl0^  of 
that  "On  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  tion 

Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons 
held  as  slaves  within  any  State  or  designated  part  of  a  State, 
the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free." 
As  a  military  measure  the  proclamation  had  no  immediate 
effect ;  it  roused  only  defiance  in  the  South  and  was  at  first 
coldly  received  in  the  North.  In  the  elections  of  congress- 
men a  few  weeks  later,  the  Kepublican  party  barely  retained  a 
majority  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives.  Nevertheless,  on 
January  1,  1863,  the  President  issued  his  second  and  final 
proclamation,  which  applied  to  all  the  seceded  states  except 
Tennessee  and  those  parts  of  Louisiana  and  Virginia  occupied 
by  federal  troops. 

Then  Lincoln  set  himself  to  the  task  of  persuading  the 
border-state  members  to  free  their  slaves  and  take  a  compen- 
sation. They  might  have  had  about  a  hundred  million  dollars, 
but  they  refused  to  admit  that  slavery  was  wrong,  even  by 
giving  it  up.  In  all  the  border  states  thousands  of  slaves  ran 
away.  By  act  of  Congress  (in  1862)  the  troops  were  forbidden 
to  return  them;  and  in  1864  Congress  repealed  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Act.  After  that  time  the  slave  who  stayed  with  his 
master  in  the  border  states  did  so  only  because  he  liked  him. 

The  good  effects  of  the  proclamation  were  at  once  seen 
abroad,  where  the  friends  of  the  Union  in  England  in  1863 


460  CIVIL   WAR 

prevented  a  last  effort  to  have  Great  Britain  and  France 
395. Effects  "mediate"  in  the  struggle.  When  two  ironclad  ships  of 
pation"101"  war' the  "  Laird  rams,"  were  ordered  for  the  Confederacy 
(1863-1865)  in  England,  our  minister,  Adams,  protested,  and  used 
Diplomatic     the  grim  phrase,  "  It  would  be  superfluous  in  me  to  point 

Correspond-    0llt  to  your  Lordship  that  this   is   war."     The  British 

ence,  1863, 

p.  367  government  had  already  decided  to  hold  the  vessels,  and 

they  were  never  delivered  to  the  Confederacy. 

Three  of  the  loyal  border  states,  which  were  practically  under 
military  rule,  settled  the  slavery  question  for  themselves: 
(1)  the  new  state  of  West  Virginia  (§  401)  in  1862  adopted  an 
antislavery  constitution;  (2)  a  constitutional  ordinance  in 
Missouri  provided  for  gradual  emancipation  (July  1,  1862); 
(3)  a  new  Maryland  constitution  abolished  slavery  outright 
(October  13,  1864).  Lincoln  tried  to  help  the  process  by  find- 
ing some  place  in  Central  America  where  the  former  slaves  could 
be  colonized ;  but  that  remedy  proved  to  be  impracticable. 

Both  the  confiscation  act  of  1862  and  the  final  Emancipation 
Proclamation  authorized  the  enlistment  of  negro  troops.     The 
first  full  negro  regiment  in  service  was  the  First  South  Caro- 
lina Volunteers,  commanded  by  Colonel  T.  W.  Higginson,  a 
New  England  abolitionist.     In  the  summer  of  1863  the  govern- 
ment ordered  a  draft,  and  states  began  to  fill  up  their  quotas  by 
recruiting  negroes  in  the  federal  camps  on  the  coast.     One  of 
these  regiments,  the  Fifty-fourth  Massachusetts,  took  part  in  a 
bloody  assault  on  Battery  Wagner  near  Charleston  (July  18, 
1863).     Its  colonel,  Robert  G.  Shaw,  was  killed ;  and  the  enemy 
"buried  him   with  his  niggers."     The  179,000  negro  troops 
eventually  received  the  pay  and  treatment  of  white  troops. 
The  year  1863  began  with  918,000  men  under  arms  on  the 
396  Th         Union  side  and  466,000  on  the  southern.     The  campaign 
Mississippi    opened  in  the  West,  where  General  Grant  tried  to  get 
paign  Cam"    ^ey°n(i  Vicksburg  by  digging  a  canal  across  the  narrow 
(1863)  neck  of  a  great  bend  in  the  Mississippi  River.     This 


MILITARY   ADVANCE    (1863) 


461 


Vicksburg  Campaign,  1863. 


plan  failed;  but  Grant  tried  various  schemes  of  opening  a 
communication,  through  shallow  bayous,  which  would  avoid 
Vicksburg.  Finally  he  determined  to  march  seventy  miles 
through  the  back  country  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and 
then  to  recross  and  strike  Vicksburg  from  the  east. 

The  first  heavy  fighting  in  this  campaign  was  the  capture  of 
Port  Gibson  by  McClernand  (May  1, 1863),  and  the  consequent 
fall  of  Grand  Gulf, 
south  of  Vicksburg. 
Grant's  next  step  was, 
with  three  days'  ra- 
tions, to  leave  the  base 
at  Grand  Gulf  and 
push  northeast,  living 
mainly  on  the  coun- 
try. He  skillfully 
maneuvered  against 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  on  the  east,  defeated  Pemberton  at  Cham- 
pion Hill,  and  drove  him  back  into  Vicksburg.  He  then  closed 
in  along  with  Sherman,  in  command  of  the  right  of  the  army, 
who  had  accompanied  Grant  through  the  campaign,  and  thus 
by  boxing  the  compass  south,  east,  north,  and  west  again, 
Grant  cut  Vicksburg  off  from  all  help. 

After  two  attempts  to  take  the  place  by  assault,  Grant 
regularly  invested  the  city  and  bombarded  it.  As  the  seven 
weeks  of  siege  progressed,  people  came  down  to  pea  meal 
mixed  with  corn  meal,  of  which  they  made  a  sort  of  bread. 
The  streets  were  full  of  debris,  wounded  men,  and  houseless 
people.  The  inhabitants  moved  to  caves  in  the  bluffs,  dug  out 
bomb-proofs,  and  lived  there  day  and  night.  July  4,  1863, 
Vicksburg  surrendered  unconditionally  with  29,000  men,  the 
largest  number  of  prisoners  taken  by  either  side  during  the 
entire  war.  General  Banks,  who  had  meanwhile  pushed  north 
from  New  Orleans,  now  took  Port  Hudson  with  its  garrison 


462 


CIVIL   WAR 


of  6000  men  (July  9).  A  week  later  a  freight  steamer  from 
St.  Louis  arrived  in  New  Orleans,  and  President  Lincoln  said, 
"  The  Father  of  Waters  again  goes  unvexed  to  the  sea." 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  fought  as  bravely  as  the  west- 
ern armies,  but  it  was  glad  to   hold  its  own   territory,   and 
397.  The        a  second  time  to  drive  an  invading  enemy  back  from 
campaign^    nortnern  soil.     General  Joseph  Hooker,  a  gallant  officer, 
(1863)  was  put  in  command  (January  25,  1863),  and  assembled 

his  army  at  Chancellorsville,  where  it  was  confronted  by  Lee's 
army  and  suddenly  attacked  by  Stonewall  Jackson  (May  2), 
and  thrown  back  in  confusion  with  great  loss;  but  Jackson 
was  accidentally  shot  by  his  own  men —  a  terrible  blow  to  the 
South.  After  five  days'  hard  fighting,  Hooker  turned  north- 
ward, having  lost  17,000  men  out  of  97,000. 


Union  forces 
Confederate  forces 


Gettysburg  Campaign. 


Battle  of  Gettysburg. 


The  check  gave  Lee  his  greatest  opportunity  during  the  whole 
war.  He  moved  northward,  crossed  the  Potomac,  and  reached 
southeastern  Pennsylvania.  At  this  critical  moment  Hooker 
asked  to  be  relieved  because  of  friction  with  Halleck,  and 
was  replaced  by  General  Meade.  The  two  armies  came 
together  near  Gettysburg  (July  1)?  and  the  next  day  the  south- 


MILITARY   ADVANCE    (1803)  463 

ern  troops  again  attacked.      July  3,   1863,  came  the  "third 
day  at  Gettysburg,"  the  greatest  battle  of  the  Civil  War. 

The  Union  army  was  fortified  on  a  crescent-shaped  range 
of  hills,  ending  with  the  strong  position  of  Eound  Top, 
and  the  whole  defended  by  80  guns.  At  one  o'clock  the  Con- 
federates opened  against  the  ridge  with  115  guns,  and  at  the 
end  of  two  hours  of  artillery  fire,  a  division  of  15,000  men, 
under  command  of  Pickett,  burst  into  the  open  and  came  sur- 
ging up  the  slope  into  the  Union  lines  on  Cemetery  Eidge. 

It  was  the  most  critical  moment  of  the  war.  A  few  of  the 
assailants  got  over  the  breastworks  ;  and  could  they  have 
held  their  ground,  the  Union  army  must  have  broken  in 
disorder,  and  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  or  Washington  might 
have  been  the  prize  of  Lee's  army.  But  the  Union  lines  held 
steady,  the  remnants  of  Pickett's  division  fell  back,  and  Lee 
was  defeated. 

Of  the  88,000  Union  troops  engaged,  more  than  one  man  in 
four  went  down,  killed  or  wounded.  The  Confederate  army 
of  75,000  men  lost  23,000,  or  almost  a  third  of  its  number. 
On  the  night  of  the  next  day  Lee  slowly  retreated,  and  the 
Union  army  let  him  cross  the  Potomac ;  but  it  was  the  last 
chance  to  invade  the  North  in  large  force. 

Two  more  terrible  battles  were  fought  in  the  West  before 
the  year  1863  ended.     To  Rosecrans,  with  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  was  assigned  the  task  of   advancing  from   398  chicka- 
Murfreesboro  and  maneuvering  against  Bragg,  who  was    mauga  and 
forced  back  first  from  Tullahoma  and  then  into  the  strong  Thomas 

position  of  Chattanooga  ;  while  Burnside  moved  up  from  (1863) 

Kentucky  to  Knoxville,  to  give  support  to  the  large  popula- 
tion of  Union  men  in  East  Tennessee. 

After  crossing  several  ranges  of  mountains,  Rosecrans  took 
Chattanooga  and  came  out  on  Chickamauga  Greek,  not  far  south 
of  the  city.  Bragg  was  reinforced  by  Longstreet  with  12,000 
nien  from  Lee's  army,  and  attacked  Rosecrans  on  the  Chicka- 


464 


CIVIL   WAR 


mauga  (September  19,  1863)  with  a  heavy  force.  The  next 
day  the  attack  was  renewed,  and  the  federal  line  broken, 
the  right  wing  and  part  of  the  center  being  driven  from  the 
field ;  but  General  Thomas,  in  command  of  the  left  wing,  stood 
his  ground,  and  drew  off  the  field  at  night  in  good  order.  Two 
days  later  the  whole  army  returned  to  Chattanooga. 

No  soldier  on  either  side  was  more  passionately  admired 
than  General  George  H.  Thomas.     After  graduation  at  West 

Point  in  1840,  he  served 
in  the  Mexican  War. 
In  his  first  little  fight 
in  the  Civil  War  he  op- 
posed Stonewall  Jack- 
son. He  was  sent  to 
Kentucky,  beat  Zol- 
licoffer  in  1861,  and 
served  as  an  excellent 
subordinate  to  Buell 
andRosecrans,  Thomas 
was  a  quiet,  reserved 
man,  shy  and  proud; 
but  he  had  a  wonder- 
ful   gift    of    inspiring 

his    men    with    confi- 
George  H.  Thomas,  in  1864.  -,  -,       , 

dence    and     devotion, 

and  he  was  commonly  called  "Pap  Thomas"  by  his  troops. 
Thomas's  great  national  reputation  was  gained  at  Chicka- 
mauga.  When  Rosecrans  hastened  to  Chattanooga,  expecting 
his  defeated  army  to  pour  in  there,  General  Garfield  asked 
leave  to  return  to  the  field,  and  he  said,  "  I  shall  never  forget 
my  amazement  and  admiration  when  I  beheld  that  grand  offi- 
cer holding  his  own  with  utter  defeat  on  each  side,  and  such 
wild  disorder  in  his  rear."  From  that  unflinching  courage 
Thomas  got  the  name  which  he  carried  the  rest  of  his  life, 


MILITARY   ADVANCE    (1863) 


465 


"  the  Rock  of  Chickamauga."  Throughout  the  rest  of  the  war 
after  Chattanooga  he  accepted  the  position  of  lieutenant,  confi- 
dant, and  friend  of  General  Sherman. 

After  Chickamauga,  Rosecrans  found  the  tables  turned,  for 
he  was  penned  up  in  Chattanooga  by  Bragg,  who  occupied  the 
neighboring  heights  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout   399.  Fights 
Mountain.     River  communication  by  the  Tennessee  was    ^fattanoo- 
closed  by  the  enemy,  though  a  difficult  land  route  was       ga  (1863) 
kept   open,  and   soon   the   army   was   almost    starving.       As 
Rosecrans   seemed   slow   in   helping   himself,  he   was   super- 
seded by  Thomas,  and  Grant  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
combined  forces  of  Sherman  and  Thomas,  and  at  once  began 
to  extricate  the  army.    As 
a  preliminary  the  enemy's 
post  at  Browns  Ferry  on 
the    river    was    captured 
(October    27),     so     that 
steamers  could  come  up, 
and  the  army  was  fed. 

An  additional  force  un- 
der Sherman  was  brought 
up,  and  Grant  now  turned 
to  attack  the  enemy.  In 
three      successive      days 

(November  23  to  25,  1863)  the  Confederate  army  was  driven 
out  of  its  strong  position  on  the  mountains  above  Chatta- 
nooga. First,  Thomas  took  the  works  at  the  foot  of  Mission- 
ary Ridge.  Next  day  Sherman  attacked  the  north  end  of 
Missionary  Ridge,  and  took  position  on  the  enemy's  flank ;  and 
in  the  dramatic  but  not  critical  "Battle  above  the  Clouds," 
Hooker  drove  Bragg's  troops  off  Lookout  Mountain.  On  the 
third  day  Thomas's  army  attacked  Missionary  Ridge,  and  with- 
out orders  the  troops  climbed  steadily  up  the  hill,  and  in  an  hour 
cleared  that  mountain  of  enemies.     There  is  no  more  stirring 


Chattanooga  Campaign. 


466 


CIVIL    WAR 


(1863) 


incident  in  the  annals  of  war  than  the  lines  of  bluecoats,  in  sight 

of  thousands  of  their  fellows,  dashing  up  the  slope,  capturing 

batteries,  guns,  and  men,  and  raising 

the  stars  and  stripes  on  the  summit. 

Bragg  retreated   in   great  confusion; 

and   an  expedition    was    immediately 

sent  up  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee  to 

relieve  Burnside,  who  was  besieged  in 

Knoxville. 

The  superior  numbers  of  the  Union 
forces  enabled  them  to  attack  the  South 

400   Minor    *n    many    detached    movements. 

operations  After  the  Vicksburg  campaign  a 
Union  army  occupied  central  Ar- 
kansas. In  the  Shenandoah  valley 
there  was  little  fighting  in  1863.  A 
fleet  of  monitors  and  other  ships  made 
desperate  attempts  to  take  Charleston, 
but  though  Fort  Sumter  was  reduced 
to  a  heap  of  ruins,  it  could  not  be  cap- 
tured; and  the  city  was  bombarded 
only  by  distant  batteries.  On  the  other 
side  the  cavalry  of  Stuart  and  Mosby 
in  Virginia,  and  Forrest  in  the  West, 
excelled  in  rapid  forays,  which  cut  the 
Union  communications,  destroyed  sup- 
plies, and  created  alarm.  Another 
dashing  cavalryman  was  John  Mor- 
gan, who  crossed  the  Ohio  Biver  in 
July,  1863,  and   for  about   a   month 

ranged  through  the  rich  country  of  southern  Ohio.  The  Ohio 
militia,  the  so-called  "  Squirrel  hunters,"  were  called  out ;  and 
Morgan  was  eventually  cornered  and  captured. 

Two  years  and  a  half  of  war  showed  the  difficulty  of  proving 


Official,  lbt><3. 
Confederate  Flags. 


MILITARY  ADVANCE   (1863)  467 

that  the  seceding  states  were  still  in  the  Union.  The  forty 
mountain  counties  of  western  Virginia  settled  the  problem  for 
themselves  by  refusing  to  secede  with  Virginia.     They  . 

held  a  constitutional  convention,  organized  as  the  state  nings  of  re- 
of  West  Virginia,  and  (1861)  asked  to  be  admitted  into  tS^ofttie 
the  Union.     As  the  Constitution  provides  that  no  state  South 

shall  be  divided  "  without  the  consent  of  the  Legislatures 
of  the  states  concerned,"  Congress  accepted  the  fiction  that 
the  loyal  legislature  at  Wheeling  represented  the  whole  state 
of  Virginia;  and  in  June,  1863,  West  Virginia  became  a  sepa- 
rate state. 

In  1861  to  1863,  under  the  direct  and  earnest  insistence  of 
President  Lincoln,  so-called  state  governments  were  formed  in 
Virginia,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  and  Tennessee ;  governors  were 
elected  by  a  handful  of  voters,  legislatures  were  chosen,  sena- 
tors and  members  of  the  House  appeared  in  Washington,  and 
several  were  actually  admitted  to  Congress,  though  at  the  same 
time  these  states  were  represented  in  the  Confederate  Congress 
at  Richmond.  By  a  formal  proclamation  (December  8,  1863) 
Lincoln  offered  to  all  persons  who  had  "  participated  in  Lincoln 
the  existing  rebellion,"  except  the  leaders,  pardon  and  Works, 

amnesty  "with  restoration  of  all  rights  and  property, 
except  as  to  slaves  " ;  and  he  promised  to  recognize  new  state 
governments  in  any  of  the  seceded  states,  if  formed  by  one 
tenth  or  more  of  the  voters,  provided  they  would  take  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 


The  most  dramatic  episode  of  this  year  was  the  Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation,  which  was  preceded  by  acts  of  Congress 
prohibiting  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  in  the  402.  Sum- 
territories,  and  freeing  refugee  slaves  belonging  to  "  rebels  mary 
in  arms."  The  proclamation  did  no  immediate  harm  to  the 
slaveholders,  but  the  knowledge  of  it  spread  among  the  slaves; 
and  wherever  Union  armies  moved,  great  numbers  of  slaves 


468 


CIVIL   WAR 


left  their  plantations  and  never  went  back.  In  the  border 
states,  too,  slavery  was  disturbed,  and  thousands  of  negroes 
ran  away.  By  the  end  of  1863  it  was  plain  that  if  the  North 
won,  nothing  could  save  slavery,  in  either  the  seceding  or  the 
border  states. 

During  1863  military  success  turned  to  the  side  of  the 
Union.  In  the  East  the  Union  troops  lost  the  battle  of  Chan- 
cellorsville,  but  won  at  Gettysburg;  and  showed  that  the 
North  could  not  be  successfully  invaded.  In  the  West  the  line 
of  the  Mississippi  was  opened,  by  the  taking  of  Vicksburg, 
though  beyond  that  river  there  was  some  righting,  and  till  the 
end  of  the  war  many  southern  troops  still  found  their  way 
across  to  the  main  Confederate  army.  On  the  direct  line  into 
the  South  from  the  Ohio  River  to  Atlanta,  the  Union  troops 
got  as  far  as  Chattanooga,  which  they  took  and  finally  held, 
after  two  desperate  battles. 


Suggestive 
topics 


Search 
topics 


TOPICS 

(1)  Fremont's  emancipation  proclamation,  1861.  (2)  Hunter's 
emancipation  proclamation,  1862.  (3)  Why  did  Emperor  Napoleon 
III.  favor  the  South  ?  (4)  Why  did  the  English  aristocracy  favor 
the  South  ?  (5)  What  did  the  northern  people  think  of  Lincoln  ? 
(6)  Why  did  Horace  Greeley  criticise  the  President  ?  (7)  Why 
did  the  British  government  hold  the  Laird  rams  in  1863  ?  (8)  Ob- 
jections to  the  draft  of  troops  in  the  North.  (9)  Surrender  of 
Vicksburg,  July,  1863.  (10)  Why  did  Congress  admit  West  Vir- 
ginia ?     (11)    Why  did  Lincoln  offer  amnesty  in  December,  1863  ? 

(12)  John  Quincy  Adams's  suggestions  of  destroying  slavery  by 
the  war  power.  (13)  Refugees  at  Fort  Monroe.  (14)  Debate 
in  Congress  on  emancipation  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  1862. 

(15)  Instances    of    the    confiscation   of    the   property   of   rebels. 

(16)  John  Bright  as  a  friend  of  the  North.  (17)  President  Lin- 
coln at  the  White  House.  (18)  President  Lincoln's  opinions  of 
the  generals.  (19)  What  did  the  southern  people  think  of  Lincoln  ? 
(20)  Some  of  Lincoln's  good  stories.  (21)  Cabinet  discussions  of 
the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  (22)  How  did  the  negro  troops 
fight?  (23)  Grant's  plans  for  capturing  Vicksburg.  (24)  Cave 
life  in  Vicksburg.     (25)  Thomas  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 


MILITARY  ADVANCE    (1863) 


469 


(26)  "Jeb"  Stuart  as  a  cavalry  leader.  (27)  How  did  Lee  get 
across  the  Potomac  in  1863  ?  (28)  The  third  day  at  Gettysburg, 
July3,  1863.     (29)  The  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge. 


Geography- 
Secondary 
authorities 


REFERENCES 

As  in  chapter  xxviii. 

Dodge,  Civil  War,  94-101,  127-192;  Hosmer,  Appeal  to  Arms; 
Rhodes,  United  States,  III.  630-637,  IV.  57-95,  157-172,  199-223, 
256-407  ;  Schouler,  United  States,  VI.  214-232,  261-289,  341-400, 
424-460  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  IV.  229-253  ;  Cambridge  Mod- 
em History,  VII.  484-491,  501-513,  553-560,  580-602  ;  Lamed,  His- 
tory for  Beady  Beference,  V.  3430,  3453,  3462, 3476,  3480,  3485,  3498  ; 
McDougall,  Fugitive  Slaves,  §§  85-105  ;  McCarthy,  Lincoln's  Plan 
of  Beconstruction ;  Fiske,  Mississippi  Valley  in  the  Civil  War,  179- 
316;  Doubleday,  Chancellorsville  and  Gettysburg;  Humphreys, 
From  Gettysburg  to  the  Bapidan ;  Greene,  The  Mississippi,  55- 
237  ;  Cist,  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  136-262  ;  Mahan,  Gulf  and 
Inland  Waters,  110-184;  Ammen,  Atlantic  Coast,  74-110;  Morse, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  II. ;  Hapgood,  Abraham  Lincoln,  268-342  ;  Ban- 
croft, W.  H  Seward,  II.  281-348,  374-399;  Adams,  C.  F.  Adams, 
240-344  ;  Wilson,  General  Grant,  160-213,  339-343  ;  Wister,  U.  S. 
Grant,  72-98  ;  Pennypacker,  General  Meade,  109-260  ;  Force,  Gen- 
eral Sherman,  98-186  ;  Copped,  General  Thomas,  118-198  ;  Davies, 
General  Sheridan,  52-88  ;  Walker,  General  Hancock,  73-157  ;  Lee, 
General  Lee,  240-325  ;  Hughes,  GeneralJohnston,  156-221 ;  Soley, 
Admiral  Porter,  234-375. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  120-124,  —  Contemporaries,  IV.  §§  100,  Sources 
101,  117-131,  145,  —  Source  Beaders,  IV.  §§  19-23,  27,  28,  81-87  ; 
MacDonald,  Select  Statutes,  nos.  17,  18,  20,  28,  29,  31,  33-36,  38, 
42 ;  American  History  Leaflets,  no.  26  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  no. 
11  ;  Hill,  Liberty  Documents,  ch.  xxii.  ;  Caldwell,  Survey,  185-189  ; 
Johnston,  American  Orations,  IV.  82-124  ;  Carpenter,  Six  Months 
at  the  White  House  ;  Dana,  Becollections,  16-155,  168-185  ;  Riddle, 
Becollections,  129-163,  199-255  ;  Grant,  Personal  Memoirs,  I.  422- 
584,  II.  1-123  ;  Century  Company,  Battles  and  Leaders,  III.  148- 
752,  IV.  1-96 ;  American  Annual  Cyclopedia,  1862,  1863.  See 
N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Historical  Sources  in  Schools,  §  88. 

Matthews,  Poems  of  American  Patriotism,  215-232  ;  Eggleston,    Illustrative 
American  War  Ballads,  II.  109-155  ;  Lowell,  Memorial  Positum  ;   works 
Whittier,  Antislavery  Poems,  219-258  ;    G.  W.  Cable,  The  Cava- 
lier ;  J.  W.  de  Forest,  Miss  BaveneVs  Conversion. 

As  in  chapter  xxviii.  Pictures 


CHAPTER   XXX. 


403 

the  North 
lived 


END   OF  THE   WAR   (1864-1865) 

Life  was  exciting  in  Civil  War  times.  People  opened  the 
morning  papers  with  dread,  for  after  the  battles  there  were 
How  l°no  lists  of  killed  and  wounded,  which  carried  woe  to 
thousands  of  families.  Then  came  a  flood  of  wounded 
and  sick  pouring  back  from  the  front;  thousands  of 
them  died  in  the  hospitals,  other  thousands  went  maimed 
about  the  streets. 

Northern  people  were  always  doing  things  for  the  soldiers. 
In  almost  every  village  and  city  there  was  a  ladies'  aid  society,. 

I 


Designs  on  Envelopes  used  during  the  Civil  War. 

in  which  the  women  scraped  lint  for  wounds,  made  bandages 
and  comfortable  clothing,  haversacks,  mittens,  and  articles  for 
the  sick,  and  collected  provisions,  clothing,  and  blankets  for  the 
soldiers.  Two  large  charitable  societies,  the  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion and  the  Christian  Commission,  took  charge  of  these 
supplies,  moved  them  to  the  front,  and  distributed  them  to 
the  needy. 

People  had  to  get  accustomed  to  several  new  kinds  of  money. 
After  the  banks   suspended   specie   payments   in   December, 

470 


END   OF  THE   WAR    (1864-1865)  471 

1861,  a  gold  coin  was  a  curiosity;  and  presently  the  silver 
also  went  out  of  circulation.  For  months  the  only  small 
change  was  sticky  postage  stamps,  till  Congress  provided  the 
little  "shin  plasters,"  or  fractional  currency.  Early  in  1862 
appeared  the  crisp  and  beautiful  new  legal  tender  "  green- 
backs," and  as  they  came  pouring  out  they  began  to  fall  in 
value ;  and  prices  correspondingly  rose  to  double,  sometimes  to 
triple,  the  old  rates.  Yet  business  was  good  in  most  parts  of 
the  country,  crops  were  large,  manufactures  increased,  the 
railroads  were  busy,  and  many  business  men  were  happy. 

Though  the  war  was  fought  to  vindicate  the  Constitution, 
the  country  was  subjected  to  many  unpleasant  methods  of 
government,  some  of  them  plainly  unconstitutional :  —  404  Mili 

(1)  In  the  territory  actually  occupied  by  the  army,       tarygov- 
including  the  city  of  Washington,  martial  law  (that  is, 

the  will  of  the  commander  in  chief)  was  openly  declared ;  it 
superseded  the  ordinary  law  and  courts,  and  civilians  could  be 
arrested  simply  by  the  order  of  the  military  commander. 

(2)  Under  an  order  of  the  President  (April  27,  1861)  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  suspended,  so  that  suspected  people 
could  be  put  in  prison  without  any  specific  charge  or  hope  of 
trial.  Many  thousand  people  first  and  last  were  arrested  in 
this  haphazard  manner,  often  without  knowing  what  was  the 
charge  against  them  ;  and  the  only  way  to  freedom  was 
through  the  intervention  of  some  man  of  influence. 

(3)  Provost  marshals  were  appointed  in  all  the  northern 
cities,  hundreds  of  miles  away  from  hostilities;  and  they 
arrested  thousands  of  people  under  military  law. 

(4)  In  1864  a  military  commission  tried  and  condemned  to 
death  Dr.  Milligan  of  Indiana  for  taking  part  in  a  traitorous 
secret  society. 

(5)  In  the  border  states,  and  even  in  the  North,  military 
officers  sometimes  shut  up  churches,  dissolved  societies,  or 
stopped  the  publication  of  newspapers.     It  is  true  that  the 

hart's  amer.  hist. — 28 


472  CIVIL   WAR 

papers  abounded  in  war  gossip,  war   news,  and  war  stories, 
and  the  correspondents  often  revealed  military  secrets. 

Notwithstanding  abundant  loyalty  and  heroism,  the  war  was 

carried  on  in  the  face  of  strong  opposition.    The  "  Peace  Demo- 

405.  Inter-    crats  "  at  the  beginning  favored  letting  the  South  secede, 

Uon°t^Pt°he     an(i  later  °PP°sed  the  war.     They  accepted  the  name  of 

war  "  Copperhead,"  bestowed  by  their  opponents,  and  wore 

as  badges  the  heads  cut  out  of  copper  cents,  or  butternuts 

cut  in  sections  —  because  the  butternut  was  the  ordinary  dye 

for  the  clothing  worn  by  Confederate  soldiers ;  and  they  created 

formidable  secret  societies,  called  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle, 

with  scores  of  thousands  of  members  in  Ohio  and  Indiana. 

The  leader  of  the  Peace  Democrats  was  Clement  L.  Vallan- 
digham,  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio,  who  boasted  that  he 
never  voted  a  dollar  or  a  man  for  the  war.  In  May,  1863,  he 
made  a  harsh  and  cutting  speech  against  the  system  of  mili- 
tary law  for  civilians.  For  this  offense  he  was  convicted  by 
a  military  court-martial,  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment;  but 
Lincoln  sent  him  across  the  lines  into  the  Confederacy  — 
a  practical  joke  which  seemed  to  many  people  impolitic. 

An  act  of  Congress  for  drawing  soldiers  by  lot  from  among 
the  able-bodied  men  led  to  terrible  "draft  riots"  in  New  York 
city  (July,  1863).  The  opposition  turned  into  a  savage  mob 
which  hunted  down  and  stoned  to  death  dozens  of  harmless 
negroes  and  then  white  people,  and  then  burned  colored  or- 
phan asylums.  The  next  step  was  to  attack  buildings  which 
represented  any  kind  of  government,  especially  police  stations 
and  armories.  The  police  fought  splendidly,  but  were  too  few 
to  resist  such  a  rising.  Federal  troops  were  hastily  summoned, 
and  after  three  days  of  riot  the  mob  was  put  down  by  musket 
and  bayonet.  About  a  thousand  people  lost  their  lives  as  vic- 
tims of  the  mob,  or  by  the  shots  of  the  defenders  of  order,  and 
the  money  damage  was  many  millions. 

Behind  the  Confederate  lines  life  was  just  as  exciting,  and 


END   OF  THE    WAR   (1864-1865)  473 

much  less  comfortable  than  in  the  North.     Throughout  the 

South  there  was  the  same  passionate  support  of  the  soldier  as 

in  the  North,  the  same  fervent  prayer  to  the  Almighty      406  How 

to  bless  their  cause.     By  severe  conscription  acts  every       the  South 

lived 
able-bodied  man  between  sixteen  and  seventy  was  called 

into   the   army,   so  that  General   Grant   said,   "They  robbed 

the  cradle  and  the  grave."     The  negroes  on  the  plantations 

raised  the  crops  and  took  care  of  the  women  and  children,  and 

a  slave   insurrection   would   have   dissolved   the   Confederate 

army  ;  but  the  negroes  never  rose. 

The  war  brought  dire  poverty  on  the  South.  The  blockade 
cut  down  the  cotton  export  from  $191,000,000  in  1860  to 
$19,000,000  in  1862.  Confederate  paper  notes  were  never  legal 
tender,  but  they  were  put  out  by  hundreds  of  millions,  and 
their  value  fell  to  a  cent  and  a  half  on  the  dollar :  corn  meal 
sold  in  Richmond  for  $80  a  bushel  in  paper ;  flour  at  $1000 
a  barrel;  a  newspaper  cost  a  dollar. 

As  the  war  progressed  the  South  could  no  longer  replace 
its  men  who  fell  or  were  made  prisoners;  and  therefore  the 
North  refused  to  exchange,  even  though  a  hundred  thousand 
northern  soldiers  remained  in  southern  prisons.  The  commis- 
sary of  the  Confederate  army  was  ill  managed ;  and  there  were 
few  supplies  in  the  country.  Libby  Prison  for  officers  in  Rich- 
mond, and  various  prisons  farther  south,  were  all  badly  mis- 
managed. Andersonville  was  in  the  hands  of  a  small  garrison, 
officered  by  men  of  the  overseer  type,  who  were  in  constant 
fear  lest  the  prisoners  should  break  loose.  Hence,  in  a  country 
abounding  in  timber  and  with  plenty  of  good  water,  the 
prisoners  were  confined  in  a  treeless  stockade  on  a  foul  stream, 
and  were  fearfully  overcrowded,  with  no  materials  to  build 
proper  houses.  They  had  the  same  kind  of  food  that  was 
provided  for  the  jails  and  the  negro  quarters,  and  often  for 
the  Confederate  troops  at  the  front,  —  chiefly  corn  meal,  some- 
times ground  cob  and  all. 


474 


CIVIL  WAR 


In  March,  1864,  President  Lincoln  selected  the  commander 

who  had  made  the  most  brilliant  record  in  the  West,  General 

407.  Grant's  U.  S.  Grant,  and  made  him  lieutenant-general  with  the 

campaign      authority  of  general  in  chief  of  all  the  armies  in  the 

(1864)  country,  and  Halleck  became  practically  the  President's 

chief  of  staff.     Grant  selected  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under 

direct  command  of  Meade,  as  his  own  fighting  force,  and  on 

May  4,  1864,  took  the  field  with  102,000  effective  men  and 

350  guns,  against  Lee's  army  of  61,000  men.     The  next  day, 

as  he  was  moving  through  the 
wooded  region  of  northern 
Virginia  known  as  the  Wil- 
derness, he  was  attacked  by 
Lee,  and  drew  out  only  after 
three  days  of  blind  and  con- 
fused fighting. 

Up  to  this  time  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac   had   always 
retreated  after  such  a  check, 
but  as  brigade  after  brigade 
came  to  a  crossroads  and  was 
directed   to   turn    southward, 
the  whole  length  of  the  col- 
umn rang  with  cheers,  for  the 
men  realized  that  they  were 
to  fight  it  through.    In  a  series 
of  assaults  "all  along  the  line" 
near  Spottsylvania,  May  10  to  21,  Grant  lost  16,000  men,  killed 
and  wounded,  or  in  sixteen  days  since  May  4  over  30,000 ;  and 
though  he  had  also  inflicted  great  losses  on  Lee,  he  could  not 
break  the  Confederate  lines. 

Grant  now  moved  southward  parallel  with  Lee's  army,  both 
sides  intrenching  every  night.  At  Cold  Harbor,  fifteen  miles 
from  Richmond,  he  found  the  enemy  strongly  intrenched  in 


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END  OF  THE  WAR   (1864-1866)  475 

what  was  really  a  great  fort.  He  attacked  (June  3)  with 
80,000  men,  and  within  an  hour  had  lost  7000.  His  purpose 
was  to  wear  Lee  out,  and  he  could  have  afforded  to  give  two 
men  for  one,  to  break  up  that  opposing  army  then  and  there. 

Once  more  Grant  edged  southward,  crossed  the  James  River 
(June  15),  and  attempted  to  seize  Petersburg,  the  key  of  eastern 
Virginia ;  but  in  several  unsuccessful  assaults  he  lost  about  8000 
men.  A  vain  attempt  to  entice  him  from  his  grip  on  Peters- 
burg was  made  by  the  Confederate  general  Early,  who,  in 
a  sudden  dash  northward  with  20,000  men,  took  and  burned 
Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania,  and  reached  the  edge  of  the  city 
of  Washington,  which  he  could  have  taken,  had  he  known  how 
few  its  defenders  were.  In  front  of  Grant's  line  at  Petersburg 
a  mine  was  dug  to  blow  up  an  important  Confederate  defense 
at  a  spot  now  called  the  Crater  (July  30,  1864)  ;  but  after  a 
loss  of  2900  men  the  Union  troops  had  to  withdraw  and  con- 
tinue the  slow  siege,  which  lasted  nearly  a  year. 

From  this  time  the  eyes  of  the  whole  country  were  on  Grant 

before  Petersburg.     Ulysses  S.  Grant  was  a  man  of  the  plain 

people,  a  descendant  of  an  early  colonist  of  Massachu-     408  Ulys_ 

setts,  probably  of  Scotch  ancestry.     The  son  of  a  tanner,   ses  S.  Grant 

.  .  as  a  general 

he  was  born  in  Ohio  (April  27,  1822),  was  brought  up 

first  to  farm  work,  then  graduated  in  1843  at  West  Point. 
Two  years  later  he  was  sent  to  Taylor's  army  and  distinguished 
himself  in  the  Mexican  campaign.  He  resigned  from  the  army 
in  1854,  and  then  tried  various  kinds  of  business  in  St.  Louis 
and  Galena,  Illinois,  and  fell  into  obscurity.  On  the  day  after 
the  fall  of  Sumter,  Grant  made  up  his  mind  to  return  to  the 
army  ;  and  in  August,  1861,  became  brigadier  general.  From 
1861  to  1863  his  name  was  connected  with  most  of  the  suc- 
cessful operations  in  the  West,  till  Lincoln  said  of  him :  "  I 
can't  spare  this  man;  he  fights." 

Grant  was  a  very  taciturn  man,  slow  to  express  an  opinion ; 
he  disliked  writing,  and  sometimes  got  into  trouble  because  he 


476 


CIVIL   WAR 


would  not  report.     Yet  he  coined  some  apt  phrases,  as  in  his 
Grant  demand  for  the  surrender  of  Fort  Donelson :  "  No  terms 


Memoirs, 
I.  311,  226 


Ibid.  II.  317 


Ulysses  S.  Grant,  in  1863. 


except  an  unconditional  and  immediate  surrender  can  be 
accepted.  I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon  your 
works";  and  in  1864,  "I 
propose  to  fight  it  out  on 
this  line  if  it  takes  all  sum- 
mer." 

Grant's  greatest  character- 
istic was  his  indomitable  grit. 
After  the  terrible  discourage- 
ments of  the  campaign  of 
1864,  he  wrote, — to  Lincoln's 
great  satisfaction,  —  "I  want 
Sheridan  put  in  com- 
mand of  all  the  troops 
in  the  field  [of  the  Shenan- 
doah], with  instructions  to 
put  himself  south  of  the  enemy  and  follow  him  to  the  death. 
Wherever  the  enemy  goes  let  our  troops  go  also."  This  in- 
tense determination  kept  in  action  the  forces  that  brought  the 
war  to  an  end.  Grant  did  not  stake  all  on  one  battle;  he 
was  not  daunted  or  discouraged  by  defeat ;  he  simply  kept 
at  it  till  his  enemy  was  vanquished. 

Grant's  most  dangerous  opponent  was  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  was 
born  in  1807,  of  an  old  and  aristocratic  Virginia  family ;  he 
409  Robert  graduated  from  West  Point  (1829),  and  spent  thirty-two 
E.  Lee  as  a     years  in  the  regular  army ;  he  distinguished  himself  in  the 
Mexican  War.      Just  before  the  Civil  War  broke  out  he 
wrote  to  a  friend,  "  If  the  Union  is  dissolved  and  the  govern- 
ment disrupted,  I  shall  return  to  my  native  state  and  share  the 
Trent,  Lee,     miseries  of  my  people,  and,  save  in  defense,  will  draw  my 
sword  on  none."     A  few  days  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sum- 
ter he  was  offered  the  command  of  the  United  States  army, 


88 


END  OF  THE   WAR    (1864-1865) 


477 


and  declined  it.     He  resigned,  and,  after  Virginia  seceded, 
accepted  a  Confederate  commission. 

For  a  year  Lee  saw  little  active  service ;  then  he  took  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  June  1,  1862,  and 
for  nearly  three  years 
was  the  unquestioned 
leader  of  that  army. 
His  division  and  corps 
commanders,  Stonewall 
Jackson,  Gordon,  Long- 
street,  A.  P.  Hill,  D.  H. 
Hill,  Ewell,  Early,  J. 
E.  B.  Stuart,  remained 
with  him  with  few  ex- 
ceptions till  the  end 
of  the  struggle.  What 
made  Lee  a  great  sol- 
dier were  his  skillful 
preparations,  his  watch- 
fulness, and  his  ability 
to  accomplish  much 
with  small  resources. 
In  this  respect  he  greatly  resembled  Washington,  with  whom 
he  has  often  been  compared.  He  had  great  power  over 
men,  and  his  soldiers  had  perfect  confidence  in  "  Uncle 
Robert." 

On  the  same  day  that  Grant  moved  south  (May  4,  1864), 
Sherman  began  his  advance  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  135 
miles  through  the  mountains,  against  Joseph  E.  Johnston,   41Q  Jog    . 
who  had  superseded  Bragg.      During  four  months  Sher-         E.  John- 
man  worked  his  way  steadily  along  the  line  of  the  rail-         fenge  0j 
road  (p.  434),  skillfully  flanking  Johnston's  smaller  army         Georgia 
from  point  to  point.      His  one  front  attack,  at  Kene- 
saw  Mountain  (June  27),  caused  a  loss  of  2000  men,  with  no 


Robert  E.  Lee,  about  1870. 


478 


CIVIL   WAR 


military  advantage.     Johnston  was  superseded  in  July,  1864, 

by  the  more  dashing  Hood.     Sherman  circled  about  Atlanta, 

almost  captured  the  opposing  army,  and  at  last  was  able  to  tele- 

Official  graph  (September  3),  "  Atlanta  is  ours,  and  fairly  won." 

^xxvill         General  Johnston  was  of  Scotch  descent,  born  in  1807 ; 

pt.  v.p.  771     he  was  a  classmate  of  Lee  at  West  Point,  and  then  served 

against  the  Indians  and  the  Mexicans.      In  1860  he  was  made 

quartermaster  general  of  the  United  States  army,  but  followed 

his  state  of  Virginia  when 
it  seceded.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  generals  appointed 
by  the  Confederacy,  com- 
manded in  the  Shenandoah 
valley,  at  Bull  Run,  in 
the  Peninsular  Campaign, 
and  against  Grant  outside 
of  Vicksburg.  Johnston's 
most  remarkable  service 
was  in  1864,  when  with 
about  70,000  men  he  tried 
to  hold  Sherman's  army  of 
113,000.  His  policy  was  to 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  in  1864.  avoid  general  engagements, 

but  to  wear  the  invaders  out  by  a  long  campaign,  and  by 
attacking  their  ever  lengthening  line  of  communications. 

The  navy  shared  in  the  hard  work  of  1864,  especially  by 

Farragut's  attack  in  August,  with   18  vessels  and  a  landing 

411   The        f°rce  of  5500  troops,  on  the  powerful  defenses  of  Mobile 

navy  in  Bay.     Farragut  lashed  his  ships  in  pairs  ;  and  he  fastened 

himself  to  the  rigging  of  his  flagship,  the  Hartford.      As 

the   fleet  went  in,  the  monitor   Tecumseh  was  torpedoed,  and 

instantly  sank,  but  the  admiral  signaled  "  Go  ahead !  "     All  the 

rest  of  the  fleet  got  through  the  channel  into  the  bay,  when  a 

dangerous  Confederate  ram,  the  Tennessee,  swept  down  upon 


1864 


END  OF  THE   WAR   (1864-1865)  479 

them.  One  after  another  the  Union  vessels  dashed  at  the  big 
ironclad,  firing  their  heavy  guns,  and  they  pounded  her  till  one 
who  was  present  said,  "  She  lay  like  a  bleeding  stag  at  bay 
among  the  hounds."  The  Tennessee  surrendered  and  the  forts 
were  taken,  so  that  the  port  of  Mobile  was  closed. 

Farragut's  determination  never  ceased  throughout  the  war ; 
he  was  one  of  the  most  careful  commanders  that  ever  lived ; 
he  made  all  his  preparations  beforehand,  weighed  the  risks, 
and  then  nothing  could  stop  him  short  of  the  sinking  of  his 
vessel ;  and  his  courage  affected  everybody  in  the  fleet.  So 
perfect  were  his  discipline  and  his  coolness,  that  in  his  great 
fights  he  always  came  out  safe  with  a  small  loss  of  men. 

The  navy  and  the  army  also  cooperated  on  the  North  Carolina 
coast.  Fort  Fisher  was  taken  (January,  1865),  and  the  port 
of  Wilmington  was  closed.  Thereafter  there  was  no  large 
port  open  to  the  blockade  runners  except  Charleston. 

Philip  H.  Sheridan,  another  great  commander,  came  to  the 

front  in  1864.     Born  in  New  York  of  Irish  parents,  he  was  a 

graduate  of  West  Point,  and  served  on  the  western  fron-    412.  Philip 

tier.     He  was  put  in  command  of  a  brigade,  and  soon     .  Sierijja,n 
r  &        '  in  the  Val- 

after  of  a  division  in  Buell's  army  (1862).     He  fought  at      ley  (1864) 
Perryville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  and  Chattanooga,  and 
in  1864  was  made  chief  of  the  cavalry  corps  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac. 

After  fighting  through  the  terrible  campaign  of  1864,  he 
was  sent  into  "  the  Valley "  of  the  Shenandoah.  There 
he  undertook  the  task  of  pushing  back  General  Early  and 
of  devastating  the  country  so  that  it  should  no  longer  feed 
the  Confederate  army.  After  fights  at  Opequan  Creek  and 
Fishers  Hill,  the  enemy  rallied  and  attacked  the  army  at 
Cedar  Creek  (October  19)  and  drove  it  out  of  its  camp,  while 
Sheridan  was  twenty  miles  to  the  north.  He  hurried  to  the 
sound  of  the  guns  and  found  a  number  of  demoralized  men 
on  the  road,  but  a  large  part  of  the  troops  were  still  in  line. 


480 


CIVIL  WAR 


As  he  galloped  along  the  line  he  shouted,  «  We  are  all  right. 
Davies,  '    '   '     Never   mind>  boys>  we'll   whip  them  yet,   we'll 

Sheridan,       whip  them   yet.     We   shall   sleep   in   our   quarters   to- 
night."    He  pushed  the  enemy  back,  and  actually  re- 
occupied   his  old  camp  at   Cedar   Creek  that  night. 

Sheridan's  characteristic  as 
a  soldier  was  his  impetuous 
attack.  He  never  waited  to 
be  perfectly  ready,  but  struck 
before  he  was  expected.  He 
was  bold  and  dashing,  would 
lead  into  any  kind  of  danger, 
and  yet  took  no  unreasonable 
chances,  and  was  never  de- 
feated in  an  independent 
command.  He  was  very  care- 
ful to  keep  his  men  well  fed 
and  supplied,  and  was  a  mas- 
ter in  the  organization  and 
use  of  cavalry. 


Philip  H.  Sheridan,  about  1870. 


The  state   elections  of   1863  responded  to  the  victories  at 
Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg  by  giving  good  Kepublican  majori- 
413.  Parties  ^es*     Though  Lincoln  had  the  confidence  of  the  people, 
and  politics  in  1864  a  clique  of   disaffected  Kepublican  politicians, 
including  Secretary   Chase,   wanted   to   set   him    aside. 
Some  of  these  malcontents  got  up  a  convention  and  nominated 
John   C.   Fremont   for   the   presidency,   a   movement    finally 
headed  off.      The  regular  Republican  convention  was  practi- 
cally unanimous  for  Lincoln,  on  a  platform  that  slavery  must 
be  destroyed ;  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee  was  put  on  the 
tieket   as  Vice  President,  in  order   to   strengthen   it   in   the 
border  states.     The  Democrats  nominated  for  the  presidency 
General  George  B.  McClellan,  as  representative  of  the  war 
Democrats  and  as  a  soldier  candidate;  but  declared  in  their 


END   OF  THE   WAR    (1864-1805)  481 

platform  that  there  "  had  been  four  years  of  failure  to  restore 
the  Uniou  by  the  experiment  of  war." 

The  failure  of  Grant  to  break  up  Lee's  army  in  June,  1864, 
had  a  damaging  effect  on  the  campaign,  and  Lincoln  was 
deeply  discouraged,  for  he  miscalculated  the  people's  affection 
for  their  President.  To  the  eighteen  free  states  in  the  Union 
in  1860  had  been  added  Kansas,  West  Virginia,  and  Nevada 
(1864).  Lincoln  carried  them  all  except  New  Jersey,  and  also 
two  of  the  four  border  slave  states,  Maryland  and  Missouri.  He 
had  212  electoral  votes  to  21 ;  but  only  2,200,000  popular  votes 
against  1,800,000  for  McClellan.  The  election  of  Lincoln 
made  it  certain  that  the  Avar  would  be  fought  to  a  finish,  and 
men  were  found  to  recruit  Grant's  army  before  Petersburg. 

Sherman's   strong   imagination    suggested   to  him  that  the 
next   step  was  to   cut   the   Confederacy  in  two  by  marching 
eastward  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah   through  the  heart  414.  March- 
of  the  country,  and  Grant,  with  much  hesitation,  gave  mg  Geonria 
his  consent.      After  destroying  the  workshops  and  de-  (1864) 

fenses  of  Atlanta,  Sherman  marched  eastward  (November  15, 
1864)  with  62,000  men  (p.  434).  There  was  no  army  in  front 
of  him  and  no  militia  that  could  oppose  him.  The  Confeder- 
ate authorities  had  begged  the  southern  people  to  plant  corn 
instead  of  cotton,  and  therefore  he  found  plenty  of  food.  The 
army  lived  on  the  country,  and  as  Sherman  passed  through  he 
left  it  devastated,  so  far  as  he  could. 

The  army  was  followed  by  "  Sherman's  Bummers,"  several 
thousand  stragglers  who  paid  very  little  attention  to  the 
orders  against  looting  private  houses  ;  and  thousands  of  con- 
trabands joined  in  the  procession  on  foot  or  in  wagons.  The 
railroads  were  destroyed  for  miles ;  even  the  rails  were  heated 
and  twisted  up.  Sherman  reached  Savannah  (December  10, 
1864),  and  eleven  days  later  the  city  surrendered ;  Lincoln 
wrote  to  Sherman,  "  The  honor  is  all  yours." 

General  William  T.  Sherman  is  in  many  ways  the  most  in- 


482 


END   OF  THE   WAR    (1864-1865) 


483 


teresting  of  all  the  military  commanders  of  the  war.     Born 
in  Ohio  in  1820,  a  member  of  a  distinguished  family,  all  his 
life  long  he  was  acquainted  with  public  affairs.     Sher-      415.  Wil- 
man  graduated  at  West  Point  (1840),  and  was  sent  out    sken^a?  as 
to  California  in  1846.     In  1855  he  resigned,  and  when       a  general 
the  war  broke  out,  was  superintendent  of  a  military  school 
in  Louisiana. 

Sherman  served  at  Bull  Run,  then  in  the  West,  and  won  his 
first  renown  at  Shiloh.     Then  he  commanded  a  corps  under 

Grant  in  the  Vicksburg 
and  Chattanooga  cam- 
paigns. W^hen  Grant  went 
east  in  1864,  Sherman  was 
put  in  command  of  most 
of  the  western  armies,  and 
acted  in  perfect  accord 
and  harmony  with  his 
chieftain.  He  begged 
Grant  to  make  the  West 
the  center  of  the  final 
campaign  :  "  Here  lies  the 

seat  of  the  coming 

°        Sherman, 

empire,  and  from  the        Memoirs, 
West,  when  our  task 
is  done,  we  will  make  short 
work   of   Charleston   and 
William  T.  Sherman,  about  1880.  Richmond."      As    a    mili- 

tary man  Sherman's  characteristic  was  his  skill  in  forecasting 
what  the  enemy  was  likely  to  do.  He  was  a  great  strategist, 
and  in  his  many  fights  and  campaigns  always  tried  to  get  a 
good  position  before  he  attacked.  His  men  admired  him  and 
called  him  "  Old  Billy  " ;  but  he  was  too  brusque  and  fiery  for 
the  warm  personal  love  which  they  poured  out  on  McClellan 
and  Thomas. 


484  CIVIL    WAR 

The  force  left  by  Sherman  under  command  of  Thomas,  when 
Sherman  started  on  his  march  to  the  sea,  was  strung  all  the 

416.  Hood  way  along  from  Nashville  to  Atlanta.  Hood,  instead  of 
(December8  f°llowing  Sherman,  struck  northward  with  41,000  men, 
1864)  but  he  lost  6000  in  a  vain  attempt  to  capture  Schofield's 

force  of  29,000  at  Franklin  (November  30).  Three  days  later 
Hood  intrenched  himself  south  of  Nashville,  where  Thomas 
massed  his  previously  scattered  forces,  fortified  the  city,  and 
made  ready  for  a  great  battle.  Thomas  had  no  horses  for  his 
cavalry;  then  he  waited  for  reinforcements ;  then  the  ground 
was  slippery  with  ice,  so  that  cavalry  could  not  maneuver.  In 
vain  did  orders  follow  day  after  day  from  Grant,  bidding  him 
attack. 

Fully  prepared  at  last,  Thomas  moved  out  December  15, 
1864,  and  in  the  hard-fought  battle  of  Nashville  drove  Hood 
from  his  lines.  The  next  day  he  attacked  again,  and  Hood's 
army  was  routed  and  dispersed.  Of  50,000  Union  men  Thomas 
lost  3000;  of  23,000  Confederates  engaged,  4500  were  taken 
prisoners.  This  battle  practically  ended  the  war  in  the  West, 
and  vindicated  Thomas's  prudence  and  generalship. 

From  Savannah  Sherman  marched  northward  to  Columbia, 
and  the  town  was  burned  as  he  entered  it  (February  17,  1865) 
—  almost  the  only  case  of  the  kind  during  the  war.  Neither 
Sherman  nor  any  other  federal  officer  gave  orders  to  burn  it, 
and  the  federal  troops  finally  put  out  the  fire.  Sherman's  pres- 
ence in  the  interior  of  South  Carolina  made  Charleston  inde- 
fensible, and  it  was  occupied  by  other  Union  forces  (February 
18,  1865).  Sherman,  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  Atlanta, 
was  now  opposed  by  a  large  force,  and  had  to  fight  J.  E.  John- 
ston at  Benton ville,  North  Carolina  (March  19),  with  a  loss  of 
1100.     A  month  later  he  occupied  Kaleigh,  North  Carolina. 

The  Army  of  the   Potomac,  during  these  brilliant  move- 

417.  Cap-  ments,  was  lying  patiently  in  the  trenches  before  Peters- 
(1865)  burg,  losing  thousands  of  men  by  disease  and  constant 


END   OF   THE    WAR    (1864-1865) 


485 


skirmishing,  but  slowly  wearing  down  Lee,  who  could  not  re- 
place his  losses.  He  even  proposed  to  President  Davis  to  levy 
negro  regiments ;  but  the  time  was  too  short  to  carry  out  the 
plan. 

The  last  great  struggle  of  the  war  now  came  on  before 
Petersburg,  where  Grant,  with  113,000  effective  troops,  well 
fed,  clothed,  and   supplied,  kept  Lee  in  the  trenches,  while 


Surrender  of  Lee. 

Sheridan  remorselessly  raided  the  country  to  the  north  and 
west  of  Richmond.  Lee  forced  a  series  of  fights,  beginning 
March  25,  to  cover  his  preparations  for  a  retreat;  he  then 
abandoned  Richmond  and  Petersburg  (April  3),  and  struck 
westward  along  the  Appomattox  River,  and  next  day  Rich- 
mond was  occupied  by  the  Union  troops.  Grant  followed 
close  after  Lee,  and  Sheridan  dashingly  closed  in  the  net. 
A  week  after  leaving  his  intrenchments,  Lee  was  surrounded 
at  Appomattox,  and,  April  9,  1865,  he  surrendered  his  com- 
mand, which  had  now  dwindled  to  27,000  men.      Lee's  part- 


486  CIVIL   WAR 

ing  speech  to  his  troops  was  simply,  "Men,  we  have  fought 
through  the  war  together ;  I  have  done  my  best  for  you." 
'  '  On  April  26  Johnston  surrendered  his  army  to  Sherman, 
at  Raleigh;  and  the  Civil  War  was  practically  at  an  end, 
although  a  few  distant  places  held  out  a  few  weeks  longer. 
Two  weeks  later  Jefferson  Davis  was  captured  while  trying  to 
escape. 

Many  suggestions  had  been  made  during  the  war,  looking 
toward  terms  of  peace.     Foreign  governments  tried  in  vain  to 

418  Terms  mediate  in  1861>  1862>  and  1863«  In  1864  some  over" 
of  peace  tures  were  made  to  President  Davis,  who  replied,  "  You 
may  l  emancipate '  every  negro  in  the  Confederacy,  but 
we  will  be  free,  we  will  govern  ourselves."  Just  before  the 
collapse  Lincoln  and  Seward  met  Vice-President  Stephens  of 
the  Confederacy  on  a  steamer  at  Hampton  Roads  (February  3, 
1865) ;  but  Lincoln  was  firm  that  the  only  conditions  of  'peace 
were  for  the  South  to  return  to  the  Union  and  for  slavery  to 
cease,  and  on  those  issues  the  conference  failed. 

After  Richmond  fell,  Lincoln  took  pains  to  notify  General 
Grant  that  he  was  not  to  make  any  pledges  for  the  future  of 
the  South.  Accordingly,  Grant  insisted  that  Lee's  troops 
should  surrender  unconditionally ;  but  he  then  released  Lee's 
men,  "not  to  be  disturbed  by  the  United  States  authority  so 
long  as  they  observed  their  paroles  and  the  laws  in  force  where 
they  reside  " ;  and  Grant  won  the  respect  and  gratitude  of  the 
southern  officers  and  soldiers  by  leaving  them  their  horses. 
Sherman,  in  receiving  Johnston's  surrender,  undertook  to  make 
pledges  about  the  reorganization  of  the  states ;  but  these  terms 
were  disavowed  by  President  Johnson  in  Washington. 

The  success  of  the  Union  arms  raised  Lincoln  to  the  highest 

point  in  his  whole  life.     He  had  the  people  behind  him, 

sination  of     and  could  have  struck  out  a  policy  which  Congress  must 

Lincoln  haye   f0nowe(i.     He   was   himself   a   southern   man   by 

(April, 

1865)  birth,  understood  the  southern  people,  and  in  his  great 


END  OF  THE  WAR   (1804-1865)  487 

nature  there  was  no  room  for  enmity  toward  those  who 
had  fought  bravely  and  were  beaten.  The  difficult  problem 
of  reconstruction  seemed  ready  for  him  to  solve.  Terrible, 
therefore,  was  the  blow  that  fell  upon  the  whole  country 
when,  just  four  years  from  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter,  the 
President  was  shot  in  a  box  at  Ford's  Theater,  during  a  play, 
by  the  organizer  and  head  of  a  band  of  conspirators.  The 
next  morning  the  President's  life  ebbed  away,  and  he  died 
April  15,  1865,  at  the  height  of  his  service  and  power.  The 
assassin  was  hunted  down  and  shot  while  desperately  defend- 
ing himself  from  capture.  Other  members  of  the  conspiracy, 
including  one  woman,  were  tried  by  military  court-martial, 
and  four  of  them  were  hanged. 

The  whole  country  felt  that  Lincoln  had  died  for  his  coun- 
try as  truly  as  though  he  had  been  in  the  front  line  at  Gettys- 
burg.    The  work  that  he  did  will  live  imperishably,  for  he 
rescued  the  Union  and  he  destroyed  slavery.     The  principles 
of  his  life  he  summed  up  a  few  days  before  his  death:  "  With 
malice  toward  none ;  with  charity  for  all ;  with  firmness         Lincoln, 
in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us      Works,  II. 
strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in ;  to  bind  up  the 
nation's  wounds;    to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the 
battle,  and  for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan  —  to  do  all  which 
may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  our- 
selves, and  with  all  nations." 

What  was  the  cost  of  the  Civil  War  ?  In  men,  360,000  on  the 
Union  side,  who  were  killed  or  died  of  disease,  and  a  correspond- 
ing Confederate  loss  of  about  258,000.     In  money,  the  42Q   Cogtof 

United  States  paid  out  during  the  Civil  War,  for  other  pur-         the  Civil 

War 

poses  than  its  ordinary  civil  expenses,  $3,660,000,000;  the 
Confederacy  probably  spent  $1,500,000,000  measured  in  gold. 
As  for  property,  no  free  territory  was  invaded,  except  Penn- 
sylvania and  Ohio  for  a  few  days ;  and  the  destruction  of  north- 
ern merchant  vessels  amounted  to  only  $20,000,000.  The  loyal 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 29 


488  CIVIL    WAR 

border  states,  as  well  as  the  South,  however,  were  invaded  at 
many  different  points  and  devastated  by  marching  armies, 
both  Union  and  Confederate.  Thousands  of  houses  were 
burned,  the  business  of  cities  was  for  months  suspended,  the 
cotton  crop  was  nearly  a  dead  loss.  The  whole  South  was 
commercially  ruined,  while  the  North,  in  spite  of  its  immense 
expenses,  had  more  men,  more  capital,  and  more  money  at 
the  end  of  the  war  than  at  the  beginning.  The  South  felt 
also  that  it  had  lost  four  million  slaves  valued  in  I860  at 
$2,000,000,000.  The  slaveholding  families  did  lose  the  op- 
portunity of  turning  their  human  property  into  cash ;  but  most 
of  the  negroes  were  still  on  the  ground  and  ready  to  work 
the  land ;  and  the  community  was  no  poorer  for  the  change. 

Was  this  enormous  expenditure  of  life,  treasure,  and  na- 
tional forces  worth  while  ?  Yes,  for  it  did  six  vital  things : 
(1)  it  taught  forever  the  lesson  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
peaceable  and  constitutional  secession ;  (2)  it  proved  once  for 
all  that  slavery  is  an  institution  which  weakens  the  economic 
and  social  forces  of  a  country ;  (3)  it  opened  up  to  four  million 
negro  people  the  opportunity  to  make  the  best  of  themselves; 
(4)  it  showed  the  self-perpetuating  power  of  republican  govern- 
ment ;  (5)  it  put  an  end  to  the  project  of  dividing  the  strength 
and  influence  of  the  United  States  between  two  separate 
nations;  (6)  it  proved  the  courage  and  self-sacrifice  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  both  North  and  South  —  all  the 
people,  not  soldiers  merely,  but  men,  women,  and  children. 


From  January,  1864,  to  May,  1865,  the  war  went  steadily 

against  the  South.     Both  sides  felt  the  pinch  of  taxes,  the  bad 

421.  Sum-     effects  of   too   much   paper  money,  the  hardships   and 

mary  despotism  of  military  government;  and  both  sides  made 

desperate  attempts  to  fight  it  out. 

In  the  East,  by  Grant's  Virginia  campaign,  the  field  of  oper- 
ations was  at  last  shifted  to  the  neighborhood  of  Richmond. 


END  OF  THE    WAR    (1864-1865) 


489 


Sheridan,  in  the  Valley,  showed  his  brilliant  qualities  as  a 
commander  and  a  destroyer.  In  the  West  Sherman  pushed 
steadily  down  the  railroad  to  Atlanta ;  toward  the  end  of  the 
year  he  broke  loose  and  crossed  the  country  to  Savannah; 
and  Thomas,  after  careful  preparation,  defeated  Hood's  army, 
the  last  that  could  be  raised  by  the  Confederates  in  the  West. 
The  end  came  in  the  spring  of  1865,  when  first  Lee  and 
then  Johnston  surrendered ;  and  there  was  no  longer  any 
center  of  resistance.  The  whole  South  was  speedily  garri- 
soned with  Union  troops. 


TOPICS 

(1)  Why  did  the  federal  government  issue  paper  money  during    Suggestive 


the  Civil  War  ?  (2)  Why  were  people  in  the  North  arrested  and 
confined  without  warrant  ?  (3)  Was  the  punishment  of  Vallan- 
dighain  judicious?  (4)  Why  was  Grant  put  in  command  of  the 
eastern  armies  ?  (5)  Why  was  Grant  obliged  to  retreat  at  the 
Wilderness  ?  (6)  Why  could  not  Grant  break  Lee's  lines  in  1864  ? 
(7)  Why  was  the  explosion  of  the  Crater  a  failure?  (8)  Why 
did  Robert  E.  Lee  resign  his  commission  in  the  United  States  army  ? 
(9)  Why  were  there  so  few  changes  among  the  officers  of  the 
Confederate  Army  of  Northern  Virginia?  (10)  Lee's  military 
career  during  the  Civil  War.  (11)  Was  Joseph  E.  Johnston's 
military  policy  wise  ?  (12)  Why  was  McClellan  nominated  by 
the  Democrats  in  1864  ?  (13)  What  were  the  objections  to  the  rais- 
ing of  negro  regiments  by  the  South  ?  (14)  Why  was  Sherman's 
convention  with  Johnston  disavowed  ?  (15)  Was  the  South  made 
poorer  by  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  ? 

(16)  The  Sanitary  Commission.  (17)  The  Christian  Commis- 
sion. (18)  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle.  (19)  Why  did  the 
Peace  Democrats  oppose  the  war?  (20)  Draft  riots  in  New 
York  city.  (21)  Conscription  in  the  South.  (22)  Life  in  Libby 
Prison.  (23)  Relations  between  Lincoln  and  Grant.  (24)  Lee's 
military  services  before  the  Civil  War.  (25)  Nomination  of  Fremont 
for  the  presidency  in  1864.  (26)  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea. 
(27)  The  battle  of  Franklin,  Nashville,  or  Bentonville.  (28)  Cap- 
ture of  Lee  at  Appomattox.  (29)  Peace  conference  at  Hampton 
Roads.  (30)  National  grief  at  the  death  of  Lincoln.  (31)  Work 
for  the  soldiers  in  your  own  town  during  the  war.  (32)  Enlist- 
ment of  soldiers  in  your  own  town  during  the  war. 


topics 


Search 
topics 


490 


CIVIL   WAR 


Geography 

Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

As  in  chapter  xxviii. 

Stanwood,  Presidency,  298-312 ;  Dodge,  Civil  War,  192-327 ; 
Hosmer,  Outcome  of  the  Civil  War ;  Schouler,  United  States,  VI. 
400-424,  400-633 ;  Rhodes,  United  States,  IV.  223-255,  407-539, 
V.  1-518;  Wilson,  American  People,  IV.  253-262  ;  Cambridge  Mod- 
ern History,  VII.  514-558,  575-580,  696,  697  ;  Gay,  Bryant's  His- 
tory, V.  193-374;  Dunning,  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction,  1-62; 
Schwab,  Confederate  States  of  America  ;  Maclay,  United  States 
Navy,  II.  397-456,  475-507,  549-559  ;  Humphreys,  Virginia  Cam- 
paign of  '64  and  '65;  Pond,  Shenandoah  Valley  in  1864;  Cox, 
Atlanta,  —  March  to  the  Sea,  Franklin  and  Nashville ;  Mahan, 
Gidf  and  Inland  Waters,  185-249  ;  Admiral  Farragut,  237-326 ; 
Ammen,  Atlantic  Coast,  199-248  ;  Morse,  Abraham  Lincoln,  II. 
175-198,  245-357  ;  Hapgood,  Abraham  Lincoln,  343-419  ;  Davies, 
General  Sheridan,  89-251,  306-319;  Walker,  General  Hancock, 
158-294 ;  Force,  General  Sherman,  187-310,  328-338 ;  Copped, 
General  Thomas,  199-291,  310-324  ;  Lee,  General  Lee,  325-399, 
420-424;  Hughes,  General  Johnston,  222-280,  290-308;  Soley, 
Admiral  Porter,  376-486. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  125,  126,  —  Contemporaries,  IV.  §§  77, 
79,  81-83,  132-140,  —  Source  Headers,  IV.  §§  18,  62,  72,  73,  88, 
89,  93,  98  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Statutes,  nos.  32,  39-41,  43 ;  Ameri- 
can History  Leaflets,  no.  26  ;  Old  South  Leaflets,  no.  11 ;  Dana, 
Recollections,  156-167,  186-291  ;  Riddle,  Recollections,  164-167, 
256-343 ;  Brooks,  Washington  in  Lincoln's  Time  ;  Grant,  Per- 
sonal Memoirs,  II.  124-554  ;  Century  Company,  Battles  and  Lead- 
ers, IV.  97-768  ;  American  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1864,  1865.  See 
N.  Eng.    Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,   Historical  Sources,  §  88. 

Matthews,  Poems  of  American  Patriotism,  233-277  ;  Eggleston, 
American  War  Ballads,  II.  106,  156-278;  Lowell,  Commemoration 
Ode ;  Holmes,  In  War  Time ;  M.  A.  De  Wolfe  Howe,  Memory 
of  Lincoln  (poems)  ;  Charles  Morris,  Historical  Tales,  292-319 ; 
G.  C.  Cary,  RebeVs  Recollections ;  B.  K.  Benson,  Friend  with  the 
Countersign ;  T.  N.  Page,  Among  the  Camps,  —  Two  Little  Con- 
federates,—  Burial  of  the  Guns;  Harold  Frederic,  The  Copper- 
head; J.  C.  Harris,  On  the  Plantation;  M.  L.  Avary,  Virginia 
Girl  in  the  Civil  War;  L.  M.  Alcott,  Hospital  Sketches;  K.  P. 
Wormeley,  Other  Side  of  War;  A.  E.  Dickinson,  What  Answer? 
(draft  riots)  ;  W.  O.  Stoddard,  Battle  of  New  York  (draft  riots). 

As  in  chapter  xxviii. 


CHAPTEK   XXXI. 
RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  UNION    (1865-1875) 

What   was    to   be    done   with    the    South   when   the    war 
was  over  ?     This  perplexing  question  involved  three  different 
subjects:  the  status  of  the  individual  whites,  the  future        422  The 
of  the  negroes,  and  the  relations  to  the  Union  of   the        s0^*™ 
states  which  had  attempted  to  secede. 

So  far  as  individuals  were  concerned,  no  federal  law  pre- 
vented former  Confederates  from  continuing  to  take  part  in  the 
state  governments;  but  penalties  for  treason  were  hanging 
over  them  all.  From  that  danger,  however,  the  military  men 
were  practically  free,  under  the  terms  of  surrender  of  Lee's 
and  Johnston's  armies;  and  when  warrants  were  issued  for 
the  arrest  of  Lee  and  many  other  military  commanders,  to  be 
tried  for  treason,  General  Grant  would  not  permit  the  arrests. 
No  such  protection  extended  to  members  of  the  civil  govern- 
ments of  the  Confederacy  and  of  the  seceded  states ;  but  the 
only  man  actually  held  for  treason  was  Jefferson  Davis  (§  428). 
Lincoln  would  probably  have  stood  firmly  against  any  kind  of 
punishment  for  the  common  people  of  the  South,  whether 
soldiers  or  civilians;  but  Congress  had  already  confiscated 
the  property  of  some  of  the  leaders;  and  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  later  punished  many  of  those  who  had  taken  a 
leading  part,  either  civil  or  military,  by  excluding  them  from 
office. 

At  the  end  of  the  war,  the  slaves  had  been  declared  free  in 
the  whole  country  except  the  states  of  Kentucky  and       423  Tne 

Delaware:    (1)  Congress  had  prohibited  slavery  in  the        southern 
^  /  .  negroes 

District  of  Columbia  and  the  territories  ;  (2)  the  Presi- 

49\ 


492 


REORGANIZATION 


dent  had  emancipated  the  slaves  in  the  seceded  states,  except 
Tennessee  and  certain  comities  of  Louisiana  and  Virginia ; 
(3)  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  and  Missouri  (§  395)  had  passed 
immediate  or  gradual  emancipation  acts  for  themselves ;  (4)  the 
loyal  governments  of  Louisiana  and  Virginia  (§  401)  had  adopted 
constitutions  that  freed  the  slaves,  and  Tennessee  in  1865 
passed  a  special  emancipation  act,  —  which  did  away  with  the 
exceptions  in  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation. 


C 


Emancipation.!)?  state  action 
3      18C3-18G5 

Emancipation  by  the  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment, 1866 
Dates  show  acts  of  Congress  or  proclamations 
readmitting  reconstructed  states 


July  2,  1863 


3o' 


Feb.  23,:  July   1'c 


July   75 


July  75,     >-£/ 
1S68  j 


March 


30,  1870 


yuly  9, 
"\  1863  ■ 


U^jm 


Emancipation  and  Reconstruction. 

For  the  thousands  of  negroes  who  had  left  their  old  homes 
and  flocked  into  the  federal  camps,  Congress  had  already 
passed  an  act  for  a  Freedman's  Bureau  (March  3,  1865),  which 
was  intended,  through  military  officers,  to  protect  the  negroes 
from  injustice,  to  find  work  for  them,  keep  them  from  starv- 
ing, and  start  schools  for  their  education.  This  action,  how- 
ever, involved  the  assumption  of  a  responsibility  for  indi- 
viduals within  states  which  the  federal  government  had  never 
before  taken. 

To  prevent  any  question  that  the  slaves  were  forever  free, 
the  Thirteenth  Amendment  to   the  Constitution  was  carried 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE   UNION  (1865-1875)  493 

through  both  houses  (January  31,  1865)  by  the  personal  influ- 
ence of  President  Lincoln,  who  said  in  a  public  speech,  "  It 
winds  the  whole  thing  up."      Three  fourths  of  all  the         Lincolrit 
states,  through  their  legislatures,   ratified   this   amend-  Works, 

ment,  which  in  December,  1865,  became  a  part  of  the 
Constitution.     It  provided  that  "  Neither  slavery  nor  involun- 
tary servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the 
United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction." 

As  for  the  eleven  former  seceded  states,  did  they  still  have 
"  all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  states  unimpaired," 

as  set  forth  by  the  resolution  of  1861?  (§  373.)     If  so,     424.  Theo- 

.      _  ries  oi 

they  must  be  permitted  to  come  back  into  their  torraer   gtate  recon. 

place;  and  through  their  senators   and   representatives        struction 
would  help  to  settle  their  own  future.     The  steady  northern 
theory  of  the  war  was  that  the  states  were  in  the  Union  and 
could  not  get  out  of  the  Union ;  that  the  whole  trouble  was 
made  by  individuals  who  traitorously  in  arms  resisted   the 
United  States.     Yet,  at  the  end  of  the  war,  the  individuals 
went  unpunished;   and  the   seceded  states  were  kept  out  of 
their  constitutional  relations  to  the  Union.     Even  after  fur- 
nishing eight   ratifications    needed    to   carry   the    Thirteenth 
Amendment,  they  were  held  not  really  to  be  in  the  Union. 
To  explain  this  singular  state  of  things  and  to  establish  a 
basis  of  readjustment,  four  main  theories  were  put  forth :  (1)  The 
"presidential  theory,"  held  by  Lincoln,  was  that  the   states 
were  entitled  to  come  back  and  send  members  to  Congress,  as 
soon  as  the  President  decided  that  they  had  repented.    (2)  The 
"state  suicide  theory,"  urged  by  Charles    Sumner,  was  that 
by  secession  the  states  lost  statehood  aud  became  territories. 
(3)   The  "conquered  provinces  theory,"  for  which  Thaddeus 
Stevens  was  responsible,  looked  on  the  South  as  a  subjugated 
region,  with  which  Congress  could  deal  exactly  as  though  it 
were  a  part  of  a  conquered  foreign  country  ;   it  was  actually 


494  REORGANIZATION 

suggested  that  South  Carolina  be  divided  between  Georgia  and 
North  Carolina  and  thus  obliterated  from  the  map.  (4)  The 
"  forfeited  rights  theory  "  was  that  the  states  still  existed  and 
were  members  of  the  Union,  but  through  traitorous  acts  of  the 
community  as  a  whole  had  made  themselves  subject  to  some 
punishment  which  would  reach  them  as  states. 

The  first  theory  to  be  applied  was  the  presidential  (see  §  401). 
On  Lincoln's  death,  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee  succeeded 
425.  Presi-    to  the  presidency.    Though  a  southern  man,  he  was  a 
recoistruc-    mountam  white  and  hated  the  planters.     By  an  amnesty 
tion  (1865)     proclamation  (May  29, 1865),  Johnson  expressly  shut  out 
the  old  southern  leaders,  so  as  to  leave  the  poor  whites  to  form 
new  state  governments.     Accordingly,  during  the  year  1865, 
while  Congress  was  not  in  session,  under  his  military  power 
he  appointed  civil  governors  for  the  southern  states.     These 
governors  called  constitutional  conventions,  which  formed  anti- 
slavery  constitutions  and  provided  for  new  elections  of  mem- 
bers  of   Congress,    governors,   and   legislatures,    which   chose 
United  States    senators.      In  December,  1865,  members-elect 
appeared  from   all  the  seceded  states  except  Texas,  and  de- 
manded seats  in  Congress. 

Unfortunately  for  the  South,  some  of  the  former  seceded 

states  enacted  statutes  on  "  vagrancy  "  and  "  labor  contracts," 

426  C  which  made  the  negroes  practically  subject  to  masters, 

gress  and  caused  the  North  to  believe  that  if  those  southern 

reconstruc-    states  were  lei>t  to  themselves,  they  would  after  a  few 

tion  years  reenslave  the  negro ;  and  that  if  the  new  members 

were  admitted  to  Congress,  there  was  no  guaranty  that  a 

large  part  of  the  work  of  the  Civil  War  would  not  be  undone. 

They  were  therefore  kept  out;    and  Congress  soon  took  the 

question   of    reconstruction   into   its   own   hands   by   a  joint 

resolution  (March  2,  1866)  that  neither  house  would  admit 

either   senator   or  representative  until   Congress   as  a  whole 

should  decide  that  the  state  was  again  to  be  represented. 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE   UNION  (1865-1875)  495 

Johnson  saw  his  plan  of  reconstruction  practically  nullified. 
He  was  a  coarse,  blustering  man,  who  did  not  know  how  to 
get  on  with  other  people,  who  had  no  powerful  friends,  and 
who  was  distrusted  by  the  antislavery  element.  The  Repub- 
lican leaders  were  backed  up  by  a  two-thirds  majority  in  both 
branches  of  Congress,  and  openly  broke  with  the  President  by 
passing  over  his  veto  a  Civil  Rights  Act  (April  9,  1866),  which 
put  the  negroes  under  the  protection  of  the  federal  government. 
In  three  years  Johnson  vetoed  twenty-one  bills,  of  which  fifteen 
were  passed  over  his  veto. 

In  order  to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  a  later  Congress  to 
repeal  the  purposes  of  the  Civil  Rights  Act,  the  two  houses 
(June  16,  1866)  submitted  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  of 
which  the  main  principles  are  four :  (1)  For  the  protection 
of  the  negro,  all  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States  are  declared  to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  also 
of  the  state  in  which  they  reside ;  and  states  are  forbidden  to 
"  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due 
process  of  law,"  or  to  "abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States."  Thus  a  great  area  of  power 
was  transferred  from  the  states  to  Congress  (§  437).  (2)  In 
order  to  favor  negro  suffrage,  states  were  to  lose  part  of  their 
representation  in  Congress  if  they  cut  off  any  adult  male 
citizens  from  voting.  (3)  To  punish  the  leaders  in  the  Con- 
federacy, many  of  them  were  excluded  from  office  (§  437). 
(4)  To  set  a  stigma  forever  on  secession,  the  Confederate  and 
state  debts  incurred  "  in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against 
the  United  States  "  were  declared  void. 

In  a  formal  reconstruction  act  (March  2,  1867)  Congress 
passed  over  the  "state  suicide  theory,"  and  accepted  a  com- 
promise between  the  "conquered  provinces"  and  "forfeited 
rights"  theories,  by  providing  that  the  seceded  states  before 
they  could  come  back  into  the  Union  must  frame  new  consti- 
tutions?  must  give  the  negro  the  suffrage,  and  must  ratify  the 


496 


REORGANIZATION 


Fourteenth  Amendment  and  thereby  consent  to  punish  their 
own  leaders. 

The  man  most  responsible  for  these  severe  conditions  was 

Thaddeus    Stevens   of  Pennsylvania.      He  was   an   excellent 

427.  Thad-    lawyer  with  a  good  practice,  who  went  into  politics  as  a 

vens's^"        Whig,   and   made   his   debut   in   Congress   in    1849   by 

leadership     declaring  that  he  was  hostile  to  slavery  "  in  every  form 

and  place."     When  the  war  broke  out,  Stevens  was  chairman 

of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means,  and  legislative  leader 

of  the  House.  He  com- 
plained of  the  House 
resolution  of  July,  1861 
(§  373),  because  the  only 
object  of  the  war  was 
to  "  subdue  the  rebels." 
When  people  talked  about 
the  Constitution,  he  said 
in  the  House,  "I  hold 
that  none  of  the  states 
now  in  rebellion  are  en- 
titled to  the  protection  of 
the  Constitution."  Ste- 
vens was  one  of  the  best 
debaters  who  ever  sat  in 
Congress,  but  he  was  ab- 
solutely one-sided  in  poli- 
tics and  thought  everybody  on  the  other  side  a  scoundrel.  He 
was  strongly  in  favor  of  emancipation,  not  so  much  to  help  the 
slaves  as  to  hurt  the  slaveholders;  and  he  insisted  on  enlisting 
Congres-        negroes  in  the  army,  for  he  said :  "  The  only  place  where 

fZ-isr!fe'  they can  find  equality is  in  the  srave-  There  a11  God's 

I II.  p.  so  children  are  equal";  and  he  favored  negro  suffrage  ex- 
plicitly on  the  ground  that  it  would  "  continue  the  Eepublican 
ascendancy." 


Copyright,  1901,  by  M.  P.  Rice. 

Thaddeus  Stevens. 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  UNION   (1865-1875)         497 

The  Supreme  Court  during  the  Civil  War  was  much  altered 
by  President  Lincoln's  appointment  of  five  new  judges,  in- 
cluding Chief-Justice  Salmon  P.  Chase.     Under  Chase's       42g  The 
leadership  the  court  from  1866  to  1869  made  a  series  of        Supreme 
decisions  on  the  questions  of  the  war  and  reconstruction :    reconstruc. 
(1)  The  right  of  the  Union  to  make  war  on  rebellious  tion 

(1866-1869') 

states  was  affirmed.  (2)  The  right  of  Congress  to  recon- 
struct such  states  after  the  war  was  supported.  (3)  The 
usual  penalties  for  treason  were  held  (by  Chase  in  a  circuit 
court)  to  be  superseded  by  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  and 
Jefferson  Davis  was  therefore  set  free  after  two  years  of 
imprisonment.  (4)  The  military  courts  set  up  by  Congress 
during  the  war  were  declared  to  be  illegal  if  held  away  from 
the  scene  of  hostilities.  (5)  In  the  famous  Texas  vs.  White 
case  (1869)  the  court  dwelt  on  "an  indestructible  Union  com- 
posed of  indestructible  States." 

After  the  breach  with  Congress  President  Johnson  tried  to 
arouse  public  sentiment  by  coarse  and  abusive  speeches,  espe- 
cially during  the  political  campaign  of  1866,  when  he  said,        429.  im- 
"We  have  seen  hanging  upon  the  verge  of  the  Govern-    peachment 
ment,  as  it  were,  a  body  called,  or  which  assumes  to  be,         Johnson 

the  Congress  of  the  United  States."      He  did  himself  (1868) 

Annual 
more  harm  than  good ;  for  in  1866  a  Republican  and  anti-    Cyclopaedia, 

Johnson  two-thirds  majority  was  again  elected  in  both     1866>  P-  75~ 
houses  of  Congress. 

In  1868  the  House  of  Representatives  went  so  far  as  to 
present  articles  of  impeachment  against  President  Johnson, 
and  the  trial  before  the  Senate  lasted  over  two  months.  Dis- 
carding many  frivolous  allegations,  the  managers  selected  for 
a  test  vote  the  charge  that  Johnson  had  tried  to  remove 
Secretary  Stanton,  contrary  to  a  Tenure  of  Office  Act  which 
had  been  passed  over  the  veto  March  2,  1867.  Thirty- 
five  Republican  senators  voted  for  conviction ;  twelve  Demo- 
cratic and  seven  Republican  senators  for  acquittal ;  and  the 


498  REORGANIZATION 

impeachment  failed,  though  a  change  of  one  vote  would  have 
made  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote.  All  but  one  of  the  dis- 
senting Republican  senators  lost  their  seats  at  the  expiration 
of  their  terms ;  but  there  is  now  no  doubt  that  they  saved  the 
country  from  the  dangerous  precedent  of  removing  a  President 
because  he  differed  with  and  quarreled  with  Congress. 

During  the  long  discussion  on  reconstruction  the  government 
was  making  up  its  accounts.     On  June  30,  1866,  the  outstand- 
430.  Finan-  ing  debt  was  $2,773,000,000.     The  government  at  once 
struction1      began  to  pay  it  off,  and  till  1894  every  year  had  a  surplus 
(1865-1870)  of  receipts  over  expenses  available  for  that  purpose.     The 
currency  was  made  up  of  "  greenbacks,"  national  bank  notes, 
and  paper  small  change,  for  all  of  which  the  federal  govern- 
ment took  the  responsibility.     Greenbacks  in  1865  were  worth 
about  seventy  cents  on  the  dollar,  measured  in  gold ;  by  1871 
they  rose  to  ninety  cents. 

At  first  it  was  intended  that  the  greenbacks  should  be  paid  off 
in  hard  money,  but  in  1866  there  was  a  small  commercial  panic, 
and  then  an  outcry  was  made  that  the  bondholders  had  paid 
greenbacks  for  their  bonds,  and  ought  to  be  repaid  in  the  same 
—  that  is,  that  the  national  debt  should  be  paid  in  more  prom- 
ises to  pay.  A  political  movement  began,  called  the  "Ohio 
Idea,"  or  by  its  enemies  the  "  Rag  Baby,"  which  startled  Con- 
gress into  voting  (February  4, 1868)  that  the  greenbacks  should 
not  be  reduced  below  $350,000,000.  A  year  later,  however, 
Congress  voted  that  the  bonds  should  be  paid  in  "  coin." 

On  the  other  side,  in  1870  the  Supreme  Court  held,  by  four 
judges  to  three,  that  the  greenbacks  were  unconstitutional. 
In  a  few  months  there  came  two  vacancies  in  the  Supreme 
Court ;  two  new  judges  were  appointed ;  and  by  a  majority  of 
five  to  four  the  court  held  greenbacks  justified  under  the  war 
power,  thus  reversing  the  previous  decision.  Thirteen  years 
later,  the  court  ruled  that  legal  tenders  could  be  issued  at 
any  time. 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  UNION   (1865-1875)         499 

At  the  end  of  the  war  a  large  force  of  Union  troops  was  sent 
to  Texas,  as  a  hint  to  an  undesirable  neighbor  across  the  Mexican 
boundary.     Napoleon  III.,  emperor  of  the  trench,  had  431.  Ameri- 
taken  advantage  of  the  embarrassment  of  the  Union  to    CaqUe°st^S 
turn  an  expedition  to  collect  damages  (1861)  into  a  war  of   (1856-1869) 
conquest  against  Mexico.     A  French  army,  amounting  at  one 
time  to  60,000  men,  set  up  what  they  called  an  empire,  with 
Maximilian,  an  Austrian  archduke,  as  emperor.     This  occupa- 
tion of  Mexico  was  very  offensive  to  the  United  States ;  and 
Secretary  Seward  many  times  warned  the  French  not  to  force 
a  monarchical  government  on  an  American  republic.     His  firm- 
ness compelled  the  French  to  withdraw  in  1867.     Within  four 
months  Maximilian  was  taken  prisoner  by  his  loving  subjects, 
set  up  against  a  wall,  and  shot ;  and  that  was  the  end  of  the 
empire  of  Mexico. 

Another  group  of  foreign  questions  brought  out  by  the  Civil 
War  related  to  the  Isthmus  route  to  California  and  to  a  naval 
station  in  the  West  Indies.  Looking  toward  a  canal,  Secretary 
Seward  made  treaties  with  Honduras  and  Nicaragua,  something 
like  that  of  1846  with  Colombia.  Then  he  turned  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  pressed  upon  the  Danish  government  a  treaty  of 
purchase  for  the  little  islands  of  St.  Thomas  and  St.  John 
(1867) ;  but  the  Senate  declined  to  ratify  the  treaty,  in  which 
there  was  little  public  interest. 

Another  of  Seward's  projects,  however,  was  successful. 
Russia,  during  the  Civil  War,  had  been  extremely  friendly; 
and  when  that  government  intimated  that  it  would  like  to  dis- 
pose of  Russian  America,  Seward  surprised  the  country  by 
arranging  a  treaty  for  the  purchase  of  the  whole  region  for 
$ 7,200,000 ;  it  was  ratified  by  the  Senate,  April  9, 1867.  People 
knew  very  little  about  the  region,  which  is  now  named  Alaska ; 
but  in  it  the  United  States  acquired  half  a  million  square  miles 
of  land,  a  valuable  seal  fishery,  and  what  proved  to  be  a  rich 
gold-mining  region. 


500  REORGANIZATION 

Immigration  was  resumed  on  a  large  scale  as  soon  as  the  war 
ended.     Many  German  immigrants  went  back  to  visit  friends ; 

432.  Ameri-  an(^  ^  they  had  originally  come  away  without  having 

can  citizen-   served  the  term  required  of  every  young  German  in  the 

ship  and 

immigra-       German  armies,  they  were  liable  to  arrest,  even  though 

tion-  (1868)     naturalized  citizens  of  the  United  States.     To  get  rid  of 

this  trouble,  a  set  of  treaties  was  negotiated  (beginning  1868) 

with  the  various  German  states,  —  and  with  Belgium,  Austria, 

France,   and  Great  Britain,  —  by  which  if  a  native  of  those 

countries  comes  to  the  United  States  and  stays  five  years,  he 

loses  his  native  citizenship,  whether  naturalized  here  or  not ; 

but  if  he  goes  back  to  his  mother  country  and  lives  there  two 

years,  he  may  lose  his  American  citizenship. 

The  welcome  to  immigrants  extended  across  the  Pacific. 
Chinese  laborers  drifted  to  California  and  Oregon,  and  thou- 
sands of  them  were  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  Pacific 
railroads  (§  434).  In  1868  the  "  Burlingame  Treaty  "  specifi- 
cally promised  that  our  government  would  protect  Chinese  in 
this  country  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  same  rights  as  those  en- 
joyed by  citizens  of  other  countries. 

The  immigrants  were  helping  to  develop  the  West,  into 
which    settlers    were    pouring    by    hundreds    of    thousands. 

433.  Devel-  Many  were  attracted  by  the  Homestead  Act,  passed  in 
opment  of  1862,  under  which  any  head  of  a  family,  native  or 
West  foreign  born,  might  take  up  160  acres  of  government 
(1861-1875)  Jan^  an^  at  the  end  of  five  years'  residence  get  a  title  to 

it  free  of  cost.  Within  ten  years  28,000,000  acres  of  land  were 
thus  "  homesteaded  " ;  and  9,000,000  acres  were  given  away 
under  an  act  of  1873,  granting  "tree  claims"  to  settlers  who 
would  plant  and  keep  alive  a  certain  number  of  trees. 

Another  cause  for  the  rush  to  the  West  was  the  discovery  of 
new  mines  —  copper  at  Butte,  Montana  (1864),  gold  in  the 
Black  Hills  of  Dakota  and  Wyoming  (1874),  silver  at  Lead- 
ville,  Colorado  (1876).     Between  1861  and  1876  it  was  found 


RECONSTRUCTION   OE  THE  UNION    (1805-1875) 


.01 


desirable  to  organize  three  new  states:  Nevada  (1864),  Nebraska 
(1867),  and  Colorado  (1876),  raising  the  total  number  to  thirty- 
eight  ;  and  to  set  up  the  territories  of  Dakota,  Idaho,  Arizona, 
Montana,  and  Wyoming. 

Much  of  the  western  country  was  still  unknown  to  white 
men  when,  in  1869,  Major  Powell,  with  a  dare-devil  boat  expedi- 
tion, went  down  the 
Colorado  River,  and 
revealed  the  wonders 
of  its  Grand  Canyon. 
In  1870  an  exploring 
party  reached  the  up- 
per Yellowstone  val- 
ley, and  made  known 
the  canyons,  hot 
springs,  and  spouting 
geysers,  which  are 
among  the  greatest 
wonders  of  our  natu- 
ral scenery. 

The  Indian  reser- 
vations established 
in  the  Northwest  in 
Jackson's  time  were 
hard  pressed  by  the 
wave  of  white  settle-  MoDERN  lNDIANS'  WITH  WlGWAM- 

ment.  President  Grant  set  on  foot  a  "  peace  policy  "  in  1869, 
and  placed  many  reservations  under  agents  nominated  by 
religious  societies ;  but  he  could  not  stop  Indian  wars.  The 
little  Modoc  tribe  in  the  lava  beds  of  northern  California  for 
many  months  (1872-1873)  defied  the  whole  United  States 
government;  and  the  Sioux  of  the  upper  Missouri  country, 
under  the  leadership  of  Chief  Sitting  Bull,  in  1876  totally 
destroyed  a  force  of  about  two  hundred  troops   with   their 


502  REORGANIZATION 

commander,  General  Custer ;  but  this  was  the  last  dangerous 
contest  with  the  Indians  in  the  Northwest. 

During  the  Civil  War  it  became  plain  that  a  railroad  to 
California  was  a  commercial  and  political  necessity.     For  this 

434.  The  purpose,  beginning  in  1862,  Congress  chartered  the  Union 
roads0  rail"  1>acific>  Northern  Pacific,  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  Texas  Pa- 
(1862-1875)  cific,  and  Sioux  City  and  Pacific  railroad  companies;  and 

granted  lands  and  privileges  to  these  roads  and  to  the  Central 
Pacific,  Kansas  Pacific,  Southern  Pacific,  Texas  and  Pacific,  and 
Western  Pacific  roads.  These  companies  eventually  built  four 
trunk  lines  (p.  516)  :  one  from  Lake  Superior  to  Paget  Sound ; 
one  from  Omaha  and  Kansas  City  to  San  Francisco;  one  from 
New  Orleans  to  San  Francisco  via  El  Paso ;  and  one  from  St. 
Louis  and  Chicago  to  San  Francisco  (Atchison  route). 

These  roads  had  three  great  privileges :  (1)  several  of  them 
were  chartered  by  the  federal  government ;  (2)  most  of  them  had 
land  grants  —  half  the  government  land  lying  in  a  strip  twenty 
miles  wide  along  their  whole  length,  amounting  in  all  to  one 
hundred  million  acres ;  (3)  the  government  issued  bonds  to  the 
Union,  Central,  Kansas,  Western,  and  Sioux  City  Pacific  roads 
to  an  amount  finally  of  $64,000,000.  Construction  was  pushed 
rapidly  on  the  most  direct  of  the  trunk  lines,  from  Omaha 
via  Great  Salt  Lake  to  California ;  and  in  1869  the  last  spike 
was  driven  at  Ogden,  Utah,  and  a  through  rail  connection  was 
established  1917  miles  long  from   Omaha  to  San  Francisco. 

For  the  presidential  election  of  1868  the  Republicans  nomi- 
nated General  Grant ;  the  Democrats  put  up  Horatio  Seymour 

435.  Presi-  °^  New  York ;  the  real  issue  was  whether  the  congres- 
dentGrant's  sional  plan  of  reconstruction  should  be  carried  out.  Two 
tion  oi  the  eight  states  just  readmitted  to  the  Union  voted 
(1869-1877)  for  Seymour ;  but  Grant  got  214  electoral  votes  to  80, 

and  a  popular  majority  of  300,000. 

President  Grant  came  into  office  in  March,  1869.  Abso- 
lutely honest  himself,  and  absolutely  truthful,  he  had  an  un- 


RECONSTRUCTION   OF   THE   UNION   (1865-1875)         503 

wavering  belief  in  those  whom  he  selected  as  friends.  He  was 
impatient  of  contradiction,  wanted  to  give  orders  himself,  and 
his  friends  made  him  believe  that  he  was  essential  to  the  sal- 
vation of  the  country.  He  was  a  sincerely  patriotic  man,  and 
as  President  rendered  many  great  services  to  the  country. 
Like  General  Jackson,  Grant  made  a  vigorous  tight  for  the 
rights  of  the  President;  and  he  used  his  veto  power  forty-three 
times,  principally  against  extravagant  special  pension  and  relief 
bills.  Grant  was  the  first  President  after  John  Quincy  Adams 
who  was  much  interested  in  a  non-partisan  civil  service.  He 
was  opposed  to  the  practice  of  removing  the  civil  officers  of 
the  government,  down  to  floor  scrubbers,  every  time  a  new 
President  came  in ;  and  he  induced  Congress  in  1871  to  pass 
a  civil  service  reform  act.  He  tried  to  carry  it  out  in  good 
faith,  till  Congress  three  years  later  cut  off  the  appropriations 
and  the  scheme  collapsed. 

While  the  late  seceded  states  were   reorganizing,  they  re- 
mained  under   the   authority   of   military   commanders,  who 
vetoed  laws,  removed  civil  governors,  dismissed  legisla-  J"*-^ 
tures,  issued  orders  where  the  legislatures  did  not  pass        stniction 
acts,  made  ordinances  for  the  cities,  and  in  general  used  (1867-1871) 
all  the  privileges  of  despotism.     Yet,  with   few  exceptions, 
they  were  moderate   and  just  rulers.     Reconstruction  under 
the  acts  of  Congress  was  a  slow  process.     Members  of  Con- 
gress from  Tennessee  were  readmitted  in  1867,  from  six  more 
states  in  1868,  from  Virginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas  in  1870; 
Georgia,  after  being  twice  set  back,  was  allowed  to  reenter  the 
Union  in  1871.     By  the  combined  ratifications  of  twenty  north- 
ern states,  two  border  states,  and  eight  states  in  process  of  re- 
construction, the  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  declared  July 
28,  1868,  to  be  a  part  of  the  Constitution. 

The  Freedman's  Bureau  was  allowed  to  lapse  in  1869 ;  but, 
in  order  to  put  negro  suffrage  out  of  the  control  of  the  southern 
states,  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  was  framed  by  Congress,  for- 
hart's  amer.  hist.  —  30 


504  REORGANIZATION 

bidding  any  states  to  withhold  the  suffrage  on  account  of 
"  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude."  It  was  duly 
ratified,  and  was  declared  to  be  part  of  the  Constitution  on 
March  30,  1870. 

When  the  southern  states  were  fully  restored,  the  adult 
negro  men  all  had  a  vote.  Every  legislature  had  negro  mem- 
bers, and  some  of  them  a  negro  majority.  Most  of  these 
negroes  were  ignorant  men  who  were  controlled  by  two  classes 
of  whites,  called  "  scalawags "  (southern  Republicans)  and 
"  carpetbaggers "  (northern  men  who  had  gone  down  South 
to  get  into  politics).  Taxes  were  increased,  debts  ran  up,  and 
the  extravagance  and  corruption  of  some  of  the  legislatures 
surpass  belief.  The  state  debt  of  Alabama  swelled  from 
$8,000,000  to  $25,000,000  in  six  years ;  the  South  Carolina  leg- 
islature spent  $350,000  in  one  session  for  "  supplies,  sundries, 
and  incidentals."  These  exactions  came  on  states  already  im- 
poverished by  four  years  of  war  —  states  in  which  almost  the 
whole  community,  white  and  black,  was  poor  and  struggling. 

Five  years  of  the  reconstructed  governments  in  the  South 

brought   about  something  very  like   a   second  rebellion,  and 

437.  Fail-  three  of  the  main  principles  of  reconstruction  were  prac- 

ureofrecon-  ti  ^       iyen  _ 

struction  J   °  r 

(1871-1875)       (1)  The  special  protection  of  the  negro,  supposed  to 

be  embedded  in  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  was  weakened 

and  almost  destroyed  by  the  decisions-  of  the  Supreme  Court, 

which  ruled  in  1869  that  the  amendment  was  not  "  intended 

to  bring  within  the  power  of  Congress  the  entire  domain  of 

civil  rights,  heretofore  belonging  exclusively  to  the  states." 

Congress  passed  a  Civil  Rights  Act  in  1875,  to  give  the  negroes 

the  same  privileges  as  white  people  in  hotels,  railroad  cars, 

and  so  on ;  but  after  eight  years  it  was  held  unconstitutional 

by  the  Supreme  Court. 

(2)   Congress  used  the  power  given  to  it  by  the  Fourteenth 

Amendment  to  pass  an  amnesty  act  in  1872,  by  which  all  but 


RECONSTRUCTION   OF   THE   UNION    (1865-1875)         505 

about  three  hundred  former  Confederate  leaders  were  restored 
to  their  political  rights. 

(3)  Negro  suffrage  was  broken  up  in  many  states  by  violence, 
through  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  movement,  which  began  in  1868. 
Young  men,  masked  and  disguised,  rode  about  the  country  at 
night,  threatening  the  negroes,  and  dragging  out  and  whipping 
or  even  shooting  their  leaders.  White  men  also,  especially 
the  "carpetbaggers,"  were  terrorized  and  sometimes  driven 
out.  Congress  in  vain  attempted  to  protect  the  negroes  by  the 
"Force  Bills  "of  1870  and  1871,  under  which  the  President 
could  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  could  send  troops 
to  protect  the  polling  places  in  the  South. 

The  Ku  Klux  Klan  gave  the  Republicans  a  new  campaign 
issue  for  the  presidential  election  of  1872.  The  Democrats 
combined  with  the  Liberal  Republicans  (an  anti-Grant  organi- 
zation) to  nominate  Horace  Greeley,  the  old-time  abolitionist 
and  hater  of  the  Democratic  party.  Grant  was  easily  reelected 
by  286  electoral  votes  to  63 ;  and  he  had  a  popular  majority  of 
700,000. 

In  the  South  the  effort  of  the  Democrats  to  get  the  state 
governments  out  of  the  hands  of  the  "  carpetbaggers  "  brought 
about  several  little  civ^i  wars,  especially  in  Louisiana,  where 
for  weeks  two  legislatures,  each  supporting  a  governor,  sat  in 
halls  a  few  squares  from  each  other.  The  whole  country  was 
weary  of  the  squabbles.  In  the  "  tidal  wave  "  of  congressional 
elections  in  1874,  a  large  number  of  Democratic  members  were 
elected  to  the  House  from  the  South;  and  from  that  time  nearly 
all  the  negroes,  by  persuasion,  or  fraud,  or  force,  or  by  new 
state  constitutions,  were  prevented  from  influencing  any  south- 
ern election  where  their  vote  could  affect  the  result. 

One  of  Grant's  best  services  to  the  country  was  the  settle- 
ment of  the  "  Alabama  Claims,"  a  term  which  was  loosely       438.  The 
used  to  include  several  kinds  of  damage,  for  which  Great  claims 

Britain  was  held  responsible :  (1)  the  recognition  of  the  (1869-1875) 


506  KEOKGANIZATION 

belligerency  of  the  Confederacy  (May,  1861);  (2)  captures  of 
American  merchantmen  by  the  Alabama  and  other  cruisers 
built  or  fitted  out  in  British  ports ;  (3)  hospitality  to  the  com- 
merce destroyers  in  British  ports,  and  allowing  them  to  coal 
and  refit;  (4)  "indirect  damages,"  especially  the  supposed 
prolonging  of  the  war  through  the  effects  of  British  sympathy. 

A  political  change  in  England  in  1867  gave  the  suffrage  to 
workingmen  who  had  sympathized  with  the  North  during  the 
Civil  War;  and  a  new  ministry  was  willing  to  admit  the  mis- 
take made  by  its  predecessors.  A  Joint  High  Commission 
drew  up  the  treaty  of  Washington  (May,  1871),  including 
"three  rules"  of  international  law  which  in  effect  were  an 
admission  that  Great  Britain  had  failed  to  do  her  duty ;  and 
in  the  treaty  the  British  government  made  a  formal  apology 
"  for  the  escape,  under  whatever  circumstances,  of  the  Alabama 
and  other  vessels  from  British  ports."  The  details  were  left 
to  a  commission  of  arbitration,  composed  of  one  British,  one 
American,  and  three  foreign  representatives. 

When  the  arbitrators  met  at  Geneva,  in  1872,  the  adjustment 
was  almost  wrecked  by  an  unexpected  claim  for  "indirect 
damages,"  to  the  amount  of  hundreds  of  millions,  put  in  by 
the  United  States.  This  claim  was  eventually  withdrawn,  and 
the  arbitrators  examined  the  evidence  and  found  that  the 
direct  damages  to  American  commerce  from  the  negligence  of 
Great  Britain  amounted  to  $15,500,000;  and  in  due  time  that 
sum  was  paid  over  to  the  United  States. 

In  1872  a  long-pending  controversy  over  the  San  Juan 
group  of  islands  in  Puget  Sound  was  also  settled  by  arbi- 
tration between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  (map, 
p.  360).  There  was  also  a  question  of  certain  privileges 
desired  by  American  fishermen  on  the  coasts  of  Canada.  A 
third  arbitration  commission  decided  in  1877  that  those  priv- 
ileges for  a  period  of  ten  years  were  worth  a  lump  sum  of 
$5,500,000,  which  was  paid  by  the  United  States. 


RECONSTRUCTION   OF  THE  UNION  (1865-1875)  507 

For  reasons  which  have  never  been  made  clear,  President 
Grant  took  a  passionate  interest  in  an  attempt  to  annex  the 
negro  republic  of  Santo  Domingo,  in  the  eastern  part  of     439.  Santo 
the  island  of  Haiti.     A  treaty  of  annexation  was  drawn       andCufa 
up  in  1869 ;  but  Charles  Sumner,  chairman  of  the  Senate   (1868-1877) 
committee  on  foreign  relations,  used  all  his  influence  against 
the  treaty  and  in  general  against  the  administration,  and  pre- 
vented its  ratification. 

Another  West  Indian  question  was  raised  in  1868  when  the 
native  Cubans  rebelled  against  the  Spanish  rule.  On  both 
sides  it  was  a  war  of  atrocities :  the  insurgents  burned  the 
sugar  plantations ;  the  Spaniards  shot  the  insurgents  like  wild 
beasts.  Our  government  remained  neutral  and  tried  to  prevent 
filibusters  from  slipping  over  to  aid  the  Cubans.  In  1873  the 
steamer  Virginius,  with  a  filibustering  expedition  on  board,  was 
captured  on  the  high  seas  by  a  Spanish  cruiser,  the  prisoners 
were  taken  into  port,  and  fifty-three  of  them,  including  eight 
Americans,  were  shot  in  cold  blood.  There  would  have  been 
war  but  that  President  Grant  was  determined  to  have  peace. 
The  Spanish  government  granted  an  indemnity  to  the  families 
of  the  Americans  who  were  killed,  but  proved  that  the  steamer 
Virginius  was  not  really  an  American  vessel  at  all. 

Just  after  the  Civil  War  came  a  period  of  fierce  speculation  : 
24,000  miles  of  new  railroad  were  built  in  four  years;  great 
losses  came  in  the  Chicago  fire  (1871)  and  in  the  Boston      440.  Corn- 
fire  (1872),  and  a  commercial  crisis  in  1873  caused  failures       questions 
to  the  amount  of  about  $225,000,000.     Three  instances  of  (1871-1875) 
fraud  seemed  to  show  a  lax  morality  in  business  and  in  the 
public  service :  (1)  it  was  found  (1872)  that  the  Credit  Mobilier, 
a  corporation  formed  to  build  the  Union  Pacific  Kailroad,  had 
offered  bribes  in  the  form  of  its  stock  to  members  of  Congress ; 
(2)  a  Whisky  Ring  was  unearthed  (1875),  which  was  defraud- 
ing the  government  by  false  accounts ;  (3)  Secretary  Belknap, 
of  the  War  Department,  was  detected  in  selling  the  privilege 


608  REORGANIZATION 

to  trade  at  army  posts;  an  attempt  was  made  to  impeach  him, 
but  he  resigned,  and  the  impeachment  broke  down  for  lack  of 
a  two-thirds  vote  (1876). 

The  question  of  the  currency  came  up  again,  and  four  sig- 
nificant statutes  were  passed  by  Congress :  — 

(1)  In  1876  the  old  "shin  plasters,"  or  fractional  currency, 
were  withdrawn,  and  silver  dimes,  quarters,  and  half-dollars 
were  again  issued. 

(2)  In  a  long  technical  act  on  coinage  (February  12,  1873)  a 
clause  was  introduced  —  later  dubbed  the  "Crime  of  1873"  — 
by  which  the  coinage  of  the  silver  dollar  was  stopped.  Inas- 
much as  silver  was  worth  more  than  gold  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1 
then  in  force,  no  silver  dollars  were  then  in  circulation;  but 
since  gold  coin  was  thereafter  the  only  full  legal  tender  coin 
struck  by  the  mint,  it  became  by  this  act  the  only  legal  stand- 
ard of  values. 

(3)  Vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  add  to  the  paper  cur- 
rency.  A  bill  passed  both  houses  of  Congress  (April  14, 
1874)  for  the  issue  of  about  fifty  millions  more  of  greenbacks ; 
but  President  Grant  vetoed  it  because  "  inflation  "  of  the  cur- 
rency by  issue  of  more  paper  money  was  contrary  to  the  policy 
and  promises  of  the  government. 

(4)  An  act  (January  14, 1875)  made  preparations  for  resum- 
ing specie  payments,  by  accumulating  a  specie  reserve. 


Though  the  Civil  War  lasted  only  four  years,  it  took  about 
eight  years  longer  to  restore  the  Union  on  the  old  basis.     The 
441.  Sum-     main  difficulties  were  two:    (1)   the  war  began  on  the 
mary  assumption  that  the  states  were  in  the  Union,  but  when 

it  was  over,  they  could  not  safely  be  reconstructed  at  once; 
(2)  the  North  was  afraid  that  the  negroes  would  not  receive 
their  full  rights  unless  they  were  protected  by  the  national 
government. 

Congress  took  the  process  of  reconstruction  out  of  the  hands 


RECONSTRUCTION   OF  THE    UNION  (1865-1875)  509 

of  President  Johnson,  and  tried  to  register  the  results  of  the 
war  in  three  constitutional  amendments.  (1)  The  Thirteenth 
Amendment  forbade  the  enslavement  of  the  negroes ;  this  was 
generally  accepted.  (2)  The  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  in- 
tended to  give  the  negroes  protection  in  their  personal  rights 
of  holding  property,  fair  trial,  travel  in  public  conveyances, 
and  so  on.  The  pith  was  taken  out  of  it  by  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  states  were  left  nearly 
free  to  deal  with  those  questions  as  they  saw  fit.  (3)  The  Fif- 
teenth Amendment  was  intended  to  assure  the  negroes  the 
suffrage,  but  they  were  shortly  deprived  of  it  by  intimidation 
and  violence,  and  did  not  recover  it. 

Nevertheless  the  actual  result  of  reconstruction  has  been  to 
condemn  secession,  and  to  call  attention  to  the  right  of  every 
man,  white  or  black,  to  make  the  best  of  himself,  and  to  give 
his  children  the  best  chance  possible.  In  its  finances,  its  com- 
merce, and  its  foreign  relations,  the  United  States  got  rid  of 
the  disturbances  left  by  the  Civil  War  with  surprising  quick- 
ness, and  began  a  new  period  of  advance. 

TOPICS 

(1)  What  was  the  purpose  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment?  Suggestive 
(2)  Why  did  the  southern  states  ratify  it  ?  (3)  What  did  Lincoln  topics 
think  ahout  reconstruction  ?  (4)  Why  could  not  the  Repub- 
licans hold  their  two-thirds  majority  in  the  impeachment  of 
Johnson  ?  (5)  What  was  the  argument  of  the  Greenback  party  in 
1868  ?  (6)  Why  did  the  United  States  object  to  the  presence  of 
the  French  in  Mexico  ?  (7)  Why  did  the  United  States  purchase 
Alaska  ?    (8)  What  were  the  arguments  for  the  Pacific  railroads  ? 

(9)  Why    was    Georgia    twice    set    back    in    reconstruction? 

(10)  Why  was  the  Civil  Rights  Act  of  1875  held  unconstitutional? 

(11)  Why  did  Congress  amnesty  most  of  the  Confederate  leaders? 

(12)  Why  did  Great  Britain  apologize  for  the  Alabama  captures  ? 

(13)   Jefferson   Davis  in   Fort  Monroe.       (14)    Vagrancy  acts    Search 
of  1865.      (15)  Management  of  the  Freedmen's   Bureau.      (16)    topics 
Public    career   of    Andrew   Johnson   before    1865.      (17)   Thad- 
deus  Stevens  as  a  debater.     (18)    Secretary  Seward's  protests 


510 


REORGANIZATION 


against  the  French  occupation  of  Mexico.  (19)  Burlingame's 
mission  and  treaty  with  the  United  States  in  1868.  (20)  Massacre 
of  General  Custer's  command.  (21)  Early  descriptions  of  a 
transcontinental  rail  journey.  (22)  The  carpetbag  legislatures. 
(23)  Origin  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan.  (24)  The  Credit  Mobilier. 
(25)  Amnesty  Proclamation  of  May,  1865.  (26)  Why  were  not 
southern  representatives  and  senators  admitted  in  December,  1865  ? 
(27)  Debates  on  the  reconstruction  acts  of  1867.  (28)  Why  did 
the  Supreme  Court  reverse  its  own  legal  tender  decision  ? 

REFERENCES 


Geography 
Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


See  maps,  pp.  492,  10,  11,  516  ;  Dunning,  Reconstruction. 

Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  §§  125-139  ;  Johnston,  Politics, 
207-242  ;  Stan  wood,  Presidency,  313-355 ;  Dunning,  Reconstruc- 
tion, —  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction,  63-303  ;  Wilson,  American 
People,  V.  1-104  ;  Rhodes,  United  States,  V.  516-626  ;  Larned, 
History  for  Ready  Reference,  V.  3560,  3721,  VI.  170;  Curtis, 
Constitutional  History,  II.  349-396  ;  Landon,  Constitutional  His- 
tory, 250-265,  331-348  ;  Brown,  Lower  South,  191-225 ;  Dewey, 
Financial  History,  §§  142-158,  163-170;  Foster,  Century  of 
Diplomacy,  401-437 ;  Latane,  United  States  and  Spanish  America, 
136-174,  221-265 ;  McCall,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  239-348 ;  Storey, 
Charles  Sumner,  255-270,  282-432  ;  Hart,  S.  P.  Chase,  319-435  ; 
Bancroft,  W.  H.  Seward,  II.  419-500  ;  Adams,  C.  F.  Adams,  377- 
397 ;  Linn,  Horace  Greeley,  214-259. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  127-132,  134,  —  Contemporaries,  IV. 
§§  141-157,  162,  163,  173-176,  —  Source  Readers,  IV.  §§  24-26  ; 
MacDonald,  Select  Statutes,  nos.  44-95,  99  ;  Hill,  Liberty  Docu- 
ments, ch.  xxiii.;  Caldwell,  Survey,  1. 189-193;  Territorial  Develop- 
ment, 203-213 ;  Johnston,  American  Orations,  IV.  129-188  ; 
McCullough,  Men  and  Measures  ;  Botume,  Amongst  the  Contra- 
bands ;  American  Annual  Cyclopedia,  1865-1874  ;  Smedes,  South- 
ern Planter,  231-341.  See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  His- 
torical Sources,  §  89. 

Lowell,  Biglow  Papers  (second  series);  A.  W.  Tourg^e,  FooVs 
Errand,  —  Bricks  without  Straw;  E.  E.  Hale,  Mrs.  Merriam's 
Scholars ;  Octave  Thanet,  Expiation  ;  T.  N.  Page,  Red  Rock ; 
G.  W.  Cable,  John  March,  Southerner ;  D.  R.  Locke,  Struggles  of 
Petroleum  V.  Nasby;  J.  W.  l)e  Forest,  Honest  John  Vane  (Wash- 
ington); S.  E.  White,  The  Westerners. 

Wilson,  American  People,  V.;  Gay,  Bryant's  History,  V. ;  Har- 
per's Weekly  ;  Harper's  Monthly. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


NEW  FOUNDATIONS   (1875-1885) 


When  the  questions  arising  out  of  the  Civil  War  were  ad- 
justed, a  great  social  and  commercial  advance  began.     In  1876 
the  Americans  commemorated  the  hundredth  anniversary      442.  Elec- 
of  the  nation  by  a  Centennial  Exposition  held  at  Phila-  tion  of  1876 
delphia,  at  which  machines  and  products  of  every  kind  were 
shown  ;  millions  of  peo- 
ple had  their  first  oppor- 
tunity   to    see    spinning, 
weaving,  printing,  paper 
manufacture,     and     like 
processes,    actually    per- 
formed before  their  eyes. 

For  the  presidential 
nomination  of  1876  the 
Republican  convention 
passed  over  both  General 
Grant,  who  would  prob- 
ably have  accepted  a 
third  term,  and  James  G. 
Blaine,  Speaker  of  the 
House  from  1869  to  1875, 
and    finally     settled     on 

General  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  governor  of  Ohio.  The  Demo- 
crats nominated  Samuel  J.  Tilden  of  New  York,  a  very  honest 
and  conservative  man,  the  ablest  in  the  party.  An  organiza- 
tion of   the  western    farmers,  under  the  name  of  Patrons  of 

511 


Samuel  J.  Tilden  in  1876. 


512  REORGANIZATION 

Husbandry,  —  oftener  called  "Grangers,"  —  formed  in  1867, 
now  made  itself  felt  in  the  nomination  of  a  third  party  candi- 
date by  the  "Greenback  Party,"  which  stood  for  the  views 
of  the  Grangers. 

The  main  issue  in  the  campaign  was  "the  Bloody  Shirt" 
—  that  is,  the  question  of  the  disloyalty  of  the  South  and  its 
friends  during  the  Civil  War.  On  the  morning  after  election 
day  Tilden  appeared  to  have  203  votes  and  Hayes  166 ;  and 
on  the  popular  vote  Tilden  had  a  plurality  of  250,000.  The 
Republicans,  however,  at  once  claimed  that  the  legal  votes  in 
South  Carolina,  Florida,  Louisiana,  and  Oregon  were  for  their 
candidate,  and  that  the  Republican  Senate  was  to  make  the 
count  and  decide  the  contest ;  the  Democratic  House  insisted 
that  the  two  houses  must  unite  in  counting  the  vote. 

The  question  was  complicated,  because  in  the  three  disputed 

southern  states  many  Democratic  ballots  were  thrown  out.    On 

443.  Elec-      tne  other  hand,  everybody  knew  that  if  the  negro  voters 

toral  Com-      in  the  South  had  been  freely  allowed  to  vote,  thev  would 

mission  and  7         J 

the  South       assuredly    have    carried    those    states    for    Hayes.     As 

(1877-1881)  March  4  approached  without  a  settlement  of  the  dispute, 
public  excitement  ran  high.  After  fierce  discussion,  an  act 
was  passed  (January  29,  1877)  for  a  special  Electoral  Commis- 
sion of  fifteen  members  —  seven  Republicans,  seven  Demo- 
crats, and  (it  was  expected)  one  Independent.  Instead  of  the 
Independent  a  Republican  was  chosen ;  and  on  every  one  of  the 
many  disputed  questions,  by  a  majority  of  eight  to  seven, 
the  commission  decided  for  the  Republican  contention.  The 
result  was  that  on  March  2,  1877,  Hayes  was  declared  elected 
by  185  electoral  votes  to  184. 

Before  the  commission  finished  its  work  Hayes  had  inti- 
mated that  he  did  not  mean  to  keep  troops  in  the  South  any 
longer ;  and  in  a  few  weeks  the  soldiers  were  removed.  The 
Democrats  held  their  majority  in  the  House  from  1875  to 
1881,  and  tried  to  force  the  President's  hand  by  adding  to  the 


NEW   FOUNDATIONS    (1875-1885)  513 

army  appropriation  act  a  "  rider "  (that  is,  a  clause  not  nec- 
essary for  the  purpose  of  the  act)  against  the  use  of  federal 
election  supervisors,  authorized  by  the  anti-Ku-Klux  act  of 
1871.  The  President  won  by  vetoing  seven  such  bills  in  suc- 
cession ;  and  a  few  years  later  the  rules  of  the  House  were  so 
changed  as  to  forbid  the  practice  of  attaching  riders.  In  1879 
the  Senate  joined  the  House  in  an  act  forbidding  the  use  of 
federal  troops  at  the  polls. 

From  1875  to  1882  was  in  general  a  period  of  prosperity. 
The  high  war  tariff  stood  after  most  of  the  other  taxes  were 

reduced ;  and  the  United  States  had  a  surplus  every  year,   444.  Finan- 

,      n  j.»  x    cial  legisla- 

and  was  buying  gold  to  get  ready  for  a  resumption  ot  tion 

specie  payments,  which  came  about  almost  without  inci-   (1877-1879) 
dent  January  1,  1879.     John  Sherman,  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury,  had   accumulated   $140,000,000   in   gold    to  protect  the 
$350,000,000  outstanding  greenbacks,  but  such  was  the  public 
confidence  that  hardly  anybody  demanded  gold  for  notes. 

Meanwhile  an  attempt  was  made  to  inflate  the  currency  in  a 
new  way.  Silver  sold  in  London  for  sixty  pence  an  ounce  in 
1872,  and  for  only  fifty-three  pence  in  1878 ;  and  the  silver- 
mine  owners  of  the  far  West  felt  sure  that  the  act  of  1873 
demonetizing  silver  was  causing  the  fall  in  the  price  of  their 
product.  The  Greenback  party  polled  less  than  100,000  votes 
in  1876,  but  the  new  Greenback  Labor  party  cast  1,000,000 
in  the  state  and  congressional  elections  of  1878  ;  and  it  de- 
manded that  the  United  States  again  coin  silver  dollars.  Mr. 
Bland  of  Missouri  introduced  a  bill  which  passed  over  Hayes's 
veto  (February  28,  1878),  providing  that  the  United  States 
should  coin  "not  less  than  two  million  dollars'  worth  per 
month  nor  more  than  four  million  dollars'  worth  per  month  " 
into  silver  dollars  at  the  old  ratio  of  16  to  1 ;  and  during  the 
next  twelve  years  the  mint  struck  three  hundred  and  seventy 
million  of  the  dollars.  The  act,  however,  did  not  restore  the 
old  right  which  had  existed  from  1792  to  1873,  of  "free  coin- 


514 


REOKGANIZATION 


age/'  that  is,  of  exchanging  bullion  at  the  treasury  for  its 
weight  in  silver  dollars  (§  196),  though  free  coinage  of  gold 
was  continued.     In  effect,  therefore,  gold  remained  the  stand- 
ard, but  the  silver  dollars  circulated  freely  at  their  face  value. 
Soon  after  the  Civil  War  people  woke  i p  to  the  problems  of 
their  municipal  government.     The  cities  outgrew   both   their 
445.  Devel-  physical    surroundings  and  their  forms  of   government, 
opmentof      Most  of  them  were  slovenly;   old   residential   quarters 
dSes1Can      were  taken  up  for  business,  or  went  backward  into  tene- 
(1860-1880)   ment  districts  ;  railroads  ran  across  or  through  the  streets 
at   grade;    pavements   were    poor;    no  city   was   thoroughly 
cleaned ;  few  had  proper  sewers  or  water  supply ;  even  a  rich 

city  like  Philadelphia 
had  surface  drainage 
in  many  quarters.  By 
1870  most  of  the  cities 
had  mayors  chosen  by 
direct  popular  election, 
regular  police  depart- 
ments, and  many  of 
them  paid  fire  de- 
partments and  good 
schools;  but  not  one 
had  a  well-organized 
central  government 
controlling  all  parts  of 
the  city's  functions. 

Great  defects  in  city 
government  were  shown 
in  the  systematic  plun- 
der of  New  York  city 

by  a  gang  known  as  the 
Waiting  fob  the  Storm  to  blow  over.        ^^  g    to 

Cartoon  by  Thomas  Nast ;  the  largest  vulture 

represents  Boss  Tweed.  1872).     "  BOSS  Tweed 


NEW   FOUNDATIONS    (1875-1885)  515 

worked  through  the  government  of  the  county  of  New  York, 
and  by  fraudulent  contracts  stole  about  $100,000,000.  In  ex- 
posing this  nest  of  robbers  Samuel  J.  Tilden  rendered  good 
service.  The  ring  was  broken  up,  the  conspirators  scattered, 
and  Tweed  was  sent  to  the  state  prison.  What  the  cities 
needed  was  system,  economy,  and  forethought,  such  as  was 
found  among  private  stock  companies. 

Savings  banks  sprang  up  all  over  the  North,  and  their  de- 
posits increased  about  sixfold  from  1860  to  1880.     Life  insur- 
ance was  also  developed  as  a  means  of  saving  and  of  pro-      446.  Rise 
viding  for  families,  and  in  the  same  period  policy  holders   of  ^reatcor- 
and  amounts  invested  increased  nearly  ten  times  over.   (1865-1875) 
The  insurance  companies  and  savings  banks  were  always  ready 
to  lend  money  on  good  real  estate  security,  and  that  helped  the 
building  of  towns  and  cities.    Manufacturing  corporations  were 
growing  in  numbers  and  in  power;    and  many  private  firms 
were  changed  into  stock  companies. 

Another  type  of  corporation  was  the  great  monopoly  control- 
ling some  large  line  of  business.  In  1870  was  chartered  in 
Ohio  a  corporation  called  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  directed 
principally  by  John  D.  Rockefeller,  for  the  purpose  of  manu- 
facturing illuminating  oil  out  of  petroleum.  In  a  few  years  it 
became  one  of  the  largest  and  most  profitable  corporations 
in  the  country.  It  consolidated  with  other  companies  j  it  had 
special  contracts  with  the  railroads,  and  was  soon  able  to  drive 
most  of  its  rivals  out  of  business ;  and  its  property,  which  in 
1870  was  about  $1,000,000,  rose  in  1900  to  an  amount  esti- 
mated at  $500,000,000. 

The  richest  and  most  important  corporations  were  the  rail- 
roads. All  the  eastern  roads  had  state  charters,  which  447  Reor_ 
could  give  no  rights  outside  the  state  limits.  Hence  ganization 
"parent  companies"  were  formed  to  lease  or  operate  °f Nation 
local  lines.  Foremost  was  trie  Pennsylvania  Company,  (1860-1880) 
which  now  holds  at  least  thirty  charters  in  twelve  states.     In 


510 


NEW  FOUNDATIONS   (1875-1885)  517 

this  process  there  was  plenty  of  "  stock  watering  "  —  that  is, 
issuing  of  shares  to  an  amount  greater  than  the  cost  of  the  prop- 
erty, and  then  trying  to  earn  dividends  on  the  whole  capital 

Up  to  the  Civil  War  most  of  the  railroads  were  organized  in 
lengths  of  a  few  hundred  miles  at  most.  Cornelius  Vander- 
bilt,  a  steamboat  king,  bought  an  interest  in  several  railroads 
branching  out  from  New  York,  and  in  1869  made  a  union 
between  the  Hudson  River  Railroad  and  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral, which  gave  an  all-rail  line,  under  one  management,  from 
the  wharves  of  New  York  to  the  wharves  of  Buffalo.  The 
Pennsylvania  Railroad,  till  then  running  from  Philadelphia  to 
Pittsburg,  absorbed  the  Fort  Wayne  route  to  Chicago  (1869), 
and  the  Pan  Handle  route  to  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  ;  and  in 
1875  changed  its  eastern  terminus  to  New  York.  It  also 
founded  an  "  American  Line  "  of  steamers  (1873),  sailing  from 
Philadelphia  to  Liverpool. 

The  great  delay  and  expense  of  ferry  transfers  led  to  the 
building  of  great  railroad   and   highway   bridges.     The   first 


Eads  Steel  Bridge,  St.  Louis.    (Spans,  520  feet.) 

bridge  across  the  middle  Mississippi  was  built  at  Rock  Island, 
Illinois,  in  1856.  Between  1865  and  1880  that  river  was 
bridged  at  a  dozen  other  places,  and  in  1874  the  Eads  steel 
arch  railway  bridge  was  constructed  at  St.  Louis.  In  1867  a 
wagon  suspension  bridge  was  built  across  the  Ohio  from  Cin- 
cinnati to  Covington;  and  the  river  was  bridged  for  a  railroad 
at  Parkersburg  in  1871.     The  greatest  work  of  this  kind  was 


518 


REORGANIZATION 


the  suspension  bridge  from  New  York  to  Brooklyn,  begun  in 
1870,  and  opened  for  travel  in  1883. 

Another  great  improvement  was  caused  by  the  invention  of 
the  Bessemer  process  for  making  steel  direct  from  pig  iron; 

the  first  American 
Bessemer  works  were 
put  up  at  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  and  at  Bethle- 
hem, Pennsylvania. 
The  Bessemer  steel 
furnished  cheap  and 
substantial  railroad 
rails ;  the  stronger 
wheel  base  made  it 
possible  to  run  heavier 
cars,  carrying  loads 
still  heavier,  and  thus 
transportation  was 
cheapened.  After  1880  the  track  gauges  of  almost  all  the  rail- 
roads were  made  uniform,  so  that  through  freight  and  passen- 
ger cars  could  be  more  widely  used. 

New  methods  of  sending  intelligence  came  into  use.  The 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  absorbed  a  number  of 
small  companies,  and  spread  a  net  of  wires  and  offices  over  the 
Union ;  and  in  1866  the  first  permanently  successful  Atlantic 
cable  was  laid.  The  mail  system  also  underwent  three  im- 
provements :  delivery  of  mails  by  carriers  (1863),  postal  money 
orders  (1864),  and  mail  cars  in  which  clerks  sort  the  mail 
while  en  route  (1864). 

Parallel  with  the  concentration  of  capital  went  a  combina- 

448.  Labor    ti°n  of  labor.     The  first  important  political  victory  of 

and  strikes    iaj)or  was  the  exclusion  of  the  Chinese,  of  whom  the  cen- 

(1875-1882)   ^  of  ig8o  showed  105,000  in  the  United  States.     On 

the  Pacific  coast,  where  they  were  most  numerous,  a  prejudice 


Making  Bessemer  Steel. 
The  stream  of  fire  is  from  the  "  converter. 


NEW  FOUNDATIONS    (1875-1885)  519 

arose  against  them,  and  an  agitator  named  Dennis  Kearney, 
"  the  Sand  Lots  Orator,"  headed  a  movement  expressed  in  the 
last  words  .of  his  every  speech,  "  The  Chinese  must  go ! " 
In  1879  Congress  passed  a  bill  to  restrict  the  coming  of  the 
Chinese.  President  Hayes  vetoed  it,  lest  China  retaliate,  but 
in  1880  he  negotiated  a  treaty  by  which  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment agreed  that  Congress  might  regulate  Chinese  immigra- 
tion. Congress  thereupon  "  regulated  "  it  by  prohibiting  it  for 
twenty  years  (1882);  and  President  Arthur  vetoed  this  bill 
also.  A  modified  bill  was  then  passed  under  which  the  immi- 
gration of  Chinese  laborers  was  "suspended"  for  ten  years; 
a  principle  to  which  the  Chinese  consented  by  treaty.  Addi- 
tional acts  to  prevent  Chinese  from  coming  in  secretly  were 
passed,  and  in  1892,  and  1902,  the  entrance  of  Chinese  laborers 
was  again  prohibited  for  ten  years.  The  action  of  Congress 
prevented  the  coming  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  who 
would  have  brought  about  a  race  difficulty  like  the  negro 
question  in  the  South. 

Trades  unions  were  active  long  before  the  Civil  War,  and  in 
1869  the  order  of  Knights  of  Labor  was  founded,  as  a  general 
society  open  to  workmen  of  all  trades;  but  its  power  was 
little  felt  before  1883.  Contests  between  employers  and  organ- 
izations of  workmen  led  to  a  series  of  terrible  strikes,  the  worst 
of  which  was  the  railroad  strike  of  1877  at  Pittsburg  and  other 
places.  The  railroads  were  paralyzed,  trains  and  stations  were 
set  on  fire,  and  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property  destroyed. 
The  state  authorities  could  not  stop  this  disorder,  and  United 
States  troops  were  eventually  called  in,  and  put  it  down. 

In  the  election  of  1880  the  Democrats,  who  had  never  ceased 

to  call  Hayes  "  the  fraud  President,"  hoped  to  be  clearly        449.  Ad- 

.  ..         ministra- 

successful.     They  found  a  soldier  candidate  in  General  tion  of 

Winfield  S.  Hancock,  one  of  the  bravest  and  soundest      President 

Arthur 
soldiers  of  the  war.     The  friends  of  General  Grant  and  (1881-1885) 

of  Blaine  again  fought  each   other  in  the   Republican   con- 

hart's  amer.  hist.  —  31 


520  REORGANIZATION 

vention,  and  a  compromise  candidate  was  nominated,  General 
James  A.  Garfield  of  Ohio,  a  good  soldier  and  the  Repub- 
lican leader  in  the  House.  General  Hancock  seemed  likely 
to  be  elected,  till  he  wrote  a  letter  in  which  he  said  that  the 
tariff  was  "a  local  issue."  He  carried  every  southern  state 
(the  beginning  of  the  so-called  "  Solid  South  "),  and  New  Jersey, 
Nevada,  and  California.  Though  in  the  popular  vote  about 
even  with  Garfield,  he  received  only  155  electoral  votes  to  214. 

President  Garfield  was  shot  by  a  half-crazed  man,  and  died 
(September  19,  1881);  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent, Chester  A.  Arthur  of  New  York.  Arthur  proved  a  safe 
if  not  a  brilliant  President;  and  in  his  administration  steps 
were  taken  to  check  the  system  of  political  removals  intro- 
duced in  Jackson's  time,  by  which  the  smallest  subordinate 
places  were  distributed  by  favor  and  generally  as  a  reward  for 
political  service.  Men  were  constantly  removed  to  make  room 
for  new  appointees;  and  it  was  a  regular  custom  to  assess 
government  employees  a  certain  proportion  of  their  salaries 
for  the  national  party  campaign  funds.  By  the  Civil  Service 
Act  of  January  16, 1883,  it  was  provided  that:  (1)  appointments 
to  certain  clerkships  and  other  subordinate  places  in  the  govern- 
ment, commonly  called  "the  classified  service,"  were  to  be  made 
only  on  competitive  examinations;  (2)  removals  for  political 
reasons  were  forbidden ;  (3)  political  assessments  by  a  govern- 
ment official  or  in  a  government  building  were  prohibited. 

After  1879  money  again  piled  up  in  the  treasury  and  there 
was  a  popular  demand,  expressed  by  such  men  as  James  A. 
Garfield,  for  a  reduction  of  the  tariff.  The  discussion  came  to 
a  head  in  1882,  and  Congress  authorized  a  commission  to  draw 
up  a  bill  —  the  only  case  of  the  kind  in  our  history.  But  Con- 
gress discussed,  revised,  and  essentially  altered  the  draft,  so 
that  the  final  outcome,  the  tariff  of  March  3,  1883,  reduced 
duties  on  some  kinds  of  goods,  but  raised  the  average  rate  of 
duty  from  about  43  per  cent  to  about  45  per  cent. 


NEW   FOUNDATIONS    (1875-1885) 


521 


After  the  settlement  of  the  Alabama  claims  (§  438)  several 
questions  of  foreign  policy  arose  in  Latin  America.     President 
Grant  threatened  in  1875  to  call  on  the  great  European      450.  Cuba 
powers  to  unite  with  us  in  intervention  in  Cuba,  and  and  the 

Spain   made   peace   with   the   Cubans   in   1878.     Negro  (1875-1881) 
slavery  speedily  died  out  in  Cuba,  and  the  trade  of  the  island 
rapidly  increased ;  but  as  a  participant  in  the  rebellion  after- 
ward said,  "We  went  to  work  to  save  money  for  another 
revolution." 

In  1878  the  government  of  Colombia  granted  a  "concession" 
to  a  French  company  to  construct  a  canal  across  the  Isthmus 


French  Work  on  thk  Panama  Canal. 
Culebra  cut,  300  feet  above  sea  level. 


of  Panama.  The  leading  spirit  was  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps, 
who  had  constructed  the  Suez  Canal,  and  who  had  the  confi- 
dence of  the  French  investors.  He  designed  a  tide-level  canal 
through  a  divide  about  300  feet  high;  and  the  company  at  once 
began  to  raise  money.  Vainly  did  President  Hayes  try  to 
arouse  the  people  of  the  United  States  at  the  prospect  of  a 
canal  to  be  controlled  by  Europeans,  although  in  a  message 
to  Congress  (1880)  he  said  that  a  canal  would  be  a  great  ocean 


522  REORGANIZATION 

thoroughfare  between  our  Atlantic  and  our  Pacific  shores,  and 
"  virtually  a  part  of  the  coast  line  of  the  United  States." 

From  March  to  December,  1881,  James  G.  Blaine  was  Secre- 
tary of  State.     In  those  few  months  he  attempted  to  found  an 
451.  Pan-      American  policy  which  should  bring  about  three  things: 
American      leadership  among  the  American  states,  reciprocity  with 
(1881-1882)  those  states,  and  an  isthmian  canal  under  the  control  of 
the  United  States:  — 

(1)  Blaine  was  struck  by  the  losses  and  confusion  caused  by 
the  wars  among  the  Latin-American  powers.  In  1881,  after 
an  exhausting  struggle,  the  Peruvians  were  at  the  mercy  of 
Chile,  and  Blaine  instructed  our  ministers  to  Peru  and  Chile 
to  use  their  influence  to  soften  the  demands  of  the  conquerors. 
The  ministers  went  beyond  their  instructions,  and  threatened 
Chile,  which  left  on  the  minds  of  the  Latin-American  states 
the  impression  that  Blaine  meant  to  settle  their  affairs  for 
them. 

(2)  Blaine  strongly  believed  that  it  was  for  the  interest 
both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  countries  south  of  us  to 
build  up  mutual  trade  by  special "  reciprocity  "  treaties,  by  which 
the  tariff  duties  should  be  reduced  on  both  sides ;  but  he  could 
not  persuade  Congress  of  the  need. 

(3)  Blaine  was  very  anxious  to  make  it  clear  that  the  Pan- 
ama Canal  was  the  special  concern  of  the  United  States ;  and 
he  tried  to  get  rid  of  the  troublesome  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty. 
Great  Britain  simply  stood  by  the  treaty. 

A  private  company  was  formed  in  New  York  (1884)  to  build 
a  rival  canal  by  the  Nicaragua  route,  and  made  some  prelimi- 
nary surveys.  The  French  Panama  Canal  Company  was  at 
work  from  1881  to  1889;  but  after  spending  $100,000,000  on 
the  canal  and  $160,000,000  more  on  salaries,  commissions, 
interest,  and  nobody  knew  what  else,  the  company  failed 
(December,  1888)  and  the  work  was  suspended. 


NEW   FOUNDATIONS    (1875-1885)  523 

From  1875  to  1883  the  most  striking  thing  in  American  his- 
tory is  the  commercial  development  of  the  country.     After  the 
dangerous  crisis  of  the  disputed  election  of  1 876-1877,  the     452.  sum- 
country  was  prosperous  and  put  to  use  new  methods  of  mary 

doing  business.  Never  had  there  been  such  great  under- 
takings ;  cities  were  rapidly  built  up,  towns  and  villages  in- 
creased. Though  most  of  the  old  canals  fell  out  of  use,  the 
railroads  were  lengthened,  improved,  and  consolidated  into 
long  systems.  Railroad  and  other  corporations  came  into 
being  with  such  capital  and  power  as  the  country  had  never 
before  dreamed  of.  The  laborers  also  began  to  understand  the 
power  of  combination ;  they  forced  legislation  against  the  Chi- 
nese, and  showed  their  power  in  several  terrible  strikes. 

The  finances  of  the  United  States  so  much  improved  that 
specie  payments  were  resumed  in  1879,  but  at  the  same  time 
the  currency  was  expanded  by  the  coinage  of  the  Bland  silver 
dollars.  In  the  tariff  discussion  of  1883  an .  unsuccessful 
effort  was  made  to  adapt  the  revenue  system  to  the  changed 
conditions  of  the  country.  There  was  a  beginning  of  national 
civil  service  reform,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  found  a  new 
foreign  policy  by  asserting  a  special  interest  in  Latin  America. 

TOPICS 

(I)  Why  were  the  soldiers  removed  from  the  South  in  1877?  Suggestive 
(2)  What  are  the  functions  of  a  life  insurance  company  ?    (3)  What  t0Plcs 

is   the  difference   between    savings   banks   and    national   banks? 

(4)  What  is  the  advantage  of  corporations  over  private  firms? 

(5)  What  is  stock  watering?  (6)  Why  did  Kearney  urge  that 
"The  Chinese  must  go"  ?  (7)  Why  did  President  Hayes  object 
to  a  French  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  ?  (8)  Why  was 
General  Garfield  nominated  for  the  presidency  in  1880  ?  (9)  What 
is  "the  classified  service"  ?  (10)  Why  did  Blaine  wish  to  abro- 
gate the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty  ? 

(II)  Political  career  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden  before  1876.     (12)  De-  search 
bates  on  the  Electoral  Commission  Act  of  1877.    (13)  What  caused  top^s 
the  fall  in  silver  from  1872  to  1878?     (14)  Debates  on  the  Bland 


524 


REORGANIZATION 


Bill,  1878.  (15)  Methods  of  the  Tweed  Ring.  (16)  Samuel  J. 
Tilden's  opposition  to  the  Tweed  Ring.  (17)  Early  history  of 
the  Standard  Oil  Company.  (18)  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  as  a  rail- 
road king.  (19)  History  of  the  Eads  steel  bridge  at  St.  Louis. 
(20)  History  of  the  suspension  bridge  at  Cincinnati.  (21)  History 
of  the  Brooklyn  bridge  at  New  York.  (22)  Submarine  telegraph 
cables.  (23)  Origin  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.  (24)  Debates  on 
the  Civil  Service  Act  of  1883.  (25)  Why  was  General  Grant  not 
nominated  for  the  presidency  in  1876  ?  (26)  Why  was  James  G. 
Blaine  not  nominated  for  the  presidency  in  1876?  (27)  What 
were  the  principles  of  the  Greenback  Labor  party  ?  (28)  What 
were  the  objections  to  the  votes  of  South  Carolina,  Florida,  and 
Louisiana  in  1876? 


Geography 

Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  516,  581. 

Wilson,  Division  and  Beunion,  §§  140-142  ;  Johnston,  Politics, 
242-265  ;  Stanwood,  Presidency,  356-418;  Wilson,  American  People, 
V.  104-169  ;  Cambridge  Modern  History,  VII.  644-654  ;  Gay,  Bry- 
ants History,  V.  447-485,  512-543  ;  Lamed,  History  for  Beady 
Beference,  V.  3577  ;  Curtis,  Constitutional  History,  II.  397-440  ; 
Dewey,  Financial  History,  ^§  159-161,  171-180;  Noyes,  American 
Finance,  17-103 ;  Taussig,  Tariff  History,  230-250  ;  Stanwood, 
American  Tariff  Controversies,  II.  192-219  ;  Latane-,  United  States 
and  Spanish  America,  198-214  ;  Wilson,  General  Grant,  310-329, 
350-364. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  133,  135-137,  140,  —  Contemporaries, 
IV.  §§  158-160,  168,  169,  177  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Statutes,  nos. 
96-98,  100-108 ;  Johnston,  American  Oratiotis,  IV.  296-328  ; 
Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1875-1884.  See  N.  E.  Hist. 
Teachers'  Ass'n,  Syllabus,  358,  —  Historical  Sources,  §  90. 

Anonymous,  Democracy ;  G.  F.  Atherton,  Senator  North  ;  P. 
L.  Ford,  Honorable  Peter  Stirling  ;  Gwendolen  Overton,  Heritage 
of  Unrest  (Indians);  F.  H.  Burnett,  Through  One  Administration. 

Harper's  Weekly  ;  Harper's  Monthly  ;  Scribner's  Monthly. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  ISSUES   (1885-1897) 

The  presidential  election  of  1884  marks  the  time  when  the 
two  national  parties  gave  up  the  outworn  issues  of  the  Civil 
War  and  reconstruction,  and   began  to  divide   on  the  453.  Change 
pressing   questions  of    revenue,    expenditure,   currency,     °  P°iggueS 
trusts,  and  especially  on  the  protective  tariff.     The  Re-  (1882-1889) 
publican  candidate  was  at  last  James  G.  Blaine ;  the  Democrats 
put  up  Grover  Cleveland, 
who    had    been    elected 
governor   of   New   York 
in  the  year  1882  by  the 
unprecedented    plurality 
of  192,000. 

The  campaign  abounded 
in  fierce  personalities. 
Blaine's  enemies  secured 
and  published  certain 
"Mulligan  Letters," 
which,  they  considered, 
showed  that  he  had  used 
his  office  of  Speaker  for 
the  private  advantage  of 
himself  and  his  friends. 
Cleveland  was  supported 

not  only  by  his  own  party,  but  also  by  the  "  Mugwumps," 
or  independent  Republicans,  who  expected  him  to  stand  for 
purer  politics.  For  several  days  after  the  election  the  re- 
sult was  in  doubt  —  without  New  York  Cleveland  could  not 

525 


Grover  Cleveland,  about  1890. 


526  REORGANIZATION 

be  elected,  and  in  that  state  he  had  a  plurality  of  only  1149, 
in  a  total  vote  of  1,167,000.  The  "  Solid  South,"  with  Indi- 
ana, New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  Connecticut,  gave  Cleve- 
land 219  electoral  votes  against  182  for  Blaine  from  the  other 
states. 

As  Cleveland  was  the  first  Democratic  President  since  Bu- 
chanan, his  election  seemed  to  his  opponents  a  revolution,  and 
it  was  freely  predicted  that,  he  would  pay  off  the  Confed- 
erate debt  or  even  reduce  the  negroes  again  to  slavery.  He 
was  a  resolute  President  who  vetoed  301  bills,  and  followed 
Grant  in  defeating  many  private  pension  and  relief  bills ;  but 
the  Democrats  never  had  a  majority  in  the  Senate  during  his 
first  term,  and  the  President  could  do  little  to  secure  legisla- 
tion to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  his  party. 

Nevertheless  during  Cleveland's  administration  and  that  of 
his  successors  many  important  non-political  acts  were  passed. 

454  Filling1  ^ne  West  a^  ^as^  saw  *ne  en(^  °^  na^  a  century  of  Indian 
up  the  West  difficulties,  when  the  Apaches,  the  most  ferocious  of  the 
hostile  tribes,  were  subdued  in  1886.  The  next  year 
Congress  passed  the  Severalty  Act,  under  which  the  best  In- 
dians were  encouraged  to  leave  their  tribes,  take  up  separate 
farms,  and  become  citizens.  A  part  of  the  Indian  Territory 
was  set  off  as  the  Territory  of  Oklahoma  (1890) ;  and  the  open- 
ing of  part  of  this  new  area  of  farm  lands  caused  a  frantic 
rush  (April  22,  1889),  from  the  border  line  to  the  interior, 
to  stake  out  and  take  up  farms  and  town  lots. 

The  reason  for  this  stampede  was  that  good  farm  lands  owned 
by  the  government  were  almost  all  taken ;  and  the  grazing  lands 
were  gone,  or  were  controlled  by  ranchmen  who  had  got  posses- 
sion of  the  river  fronts,  indispensable  for  watering  cattle.  In 
Colorado,  Utah,  California,  and  other  states,  water  companies 
were  formed  to  irrigate  land.  This  gave  rise  to  lawsuits 
over  "  water  rights,"  especially  when  people  lower  down  the 
rivers  began  to  complain  that  the  streams  were  diminishing. 


ECONOMIC   AND  SOCIAL  ISSUES    (1885-1897)  527 

In  1902  the  federal  government  stepped  in  and  appropriated 
for  large  irrigation  works  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  in 
many  western  states.  To  protect  government  timber,  and  keep 
the  streams  from  drying  up,  the  federal  government  from 
1891  to  1903  set  off  47,000,000  acres  of  public  land  for  forest 
reserves;  and  it  had  also  set  apart,  as  national  parks  forever, 
the  upper  Yellowstone  and  Yosemite  valleys,  and  several  groves 
of  big  trees  in  California. 

The  West  insisted  on  and  secured  six  new  states  —  namely, 
the  agricultural  states  of  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  and 
Washington  (1889);  and  the  mining  and  grazing  states  of 
Montana  (1889)  and  Idaho  and  Wyoming  (1890).  Utah  was 
not  included,  because  the  territorial  government  was  not  able 
to  prevent  the  practice  of  polygamy,  which  was  enjoined  as  a 
moral  duty  by  the  leaders  of  the  Mormon  Church.  As  several 
milder  statutes  failed,  Congress  passed  the  Edmunds-Tucker 
Act  (1887),  punishing  polygamy  with  heavy  penalties,  and  at- 
tempting to  turn  over  to  the  public  schools  the  property  of 
the  corporation  called  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter- 
Day  Saints  (i.e.  the  Mormon  Church).  The  church  then  offi- 
cially declared  against  polygamy,  but  it  was  not  till  January  4, 
1896,  that  Utah  was  allowed  to  become  a  state,  and  then  on 
the  solemn  pledge  in  the  state  constitution  that  polygamy 
should  never  be  allowed. 

The  South,  like  the  West,  went  through  great  social  and  eco- 
nomic changes.  After  the  war  it  recovered  its  supremacy  in 
the  world's  cotton  market.  The  thin  and  worn-out  soils  455  ^g 
were  strengthened  by  the  universal  use  of  fertilizers;  new  South 
and  the  formerly  valueless  cotton  seed  became  a  valuable  by- 
product. Rice  culture  spread  from  South  Carolina  into  Lou- 
isiana and  Texas ;  and,  under  the  tariff,  sugar  growing  became 
profitable  in  Louisiana.  Many  of  the  splendid  forests  of 
hard  pine  and  other  timber  were  reached,  cut,  and  sold. 
Manufactures    at    last   reached   the    South.        The    abundant 


528  REORGANIZATION 

coal  of  northern  Alabama  was  so  near  good  ore  that  at  Bir- 
mingham and  elsewhere  pig  iron  could  be  made  cheaper  than 
anywhere  else  in  America ;  and  great  rolling  mills  and  rail 
mills  grew  up.  In  1901  immense  deposits  of  oil  were  dis- 
covered in  Texas,  furnishing  a  cheap  fuel.  Cotton  mills  were 
started  on  a  great  scale,  but  had  to  depend  on  the  labor  of  the 
poor  whites  ;  for  few  foreigners  come  into  the  southern  states, 
and  the  negroes,  though  they  perform  most  of  the  unskilled 
labor  in  the  South,  do  not  seem  adapted  to  the  factories. 

The  South  also  enjoyed  a  large  intellectual  growth ;  public 


Stanford  University,  California.  (Gateway  and  cloisters.) 
schools  were  founded,  including  hundreds  of  high  schools  ;  col- 
leges increased  in  number ;  several  states,  notably  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  and  Texas,  fostered  vigorous  state  univer- 
sities. For  the  negroes  there  were  founded  separate  public 
schools  (mostly  elementary) ;  and  good  private  institutions  at 
Hampton,  Atlanta,  Tuskegee,  and  elsewhere,  which  prepared 
the  most  promising  negroes  to  be  teachers,  ministers,  doctors, 
lawyers,  and  also  mechanics  and  farmers. 

Education  throughout  the  country  made  great  advances  after 

456.  Mod-      1865;    and  nearly  twenty  colleges  were  founded  exclu- 
ern  educa- 
tion sively  for  the  education  of  women,  while  many  of  the  old 


ECONOMIC    AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES   (1885-1897)  529 


universities  opened  their  doors  to  women.     The  founding  of 
Johns  Hopkins  University  in  1876,  on  the   German  model, 
stirred  up  all  the  older  endowed  and  state  universities,  and 
was  followed  by  Tulane  in  New  Orleans  (1884),  Leland  Stan- 
ford (1891),  and  Chicago 
(1892).     The  methods  of 
college  education  altered; 
less   classics  and   mathe- 
matics were  required,  and 
more  sciences,  modern  lan- 
guages,   philosophy,    eco- 
nomics,   and    English; 
there    was    less    routine 
and  more  elective  work; 
less   rule   and   discipline, 
and  more   freedom ;   less 
horseplay,  and  more  ath- 
letics.      Public     schools, 
both  city  and   rural,  im- 
proved  by   new   subjects 
of    study,    new    methods 
of  teaching,    and   better- 
trained  teachers. 

New  libraries  appeared 
in  all  parts  of  the  Union, 
both  in  the  great  univer- 
sities and  in  cities,  espe- 
cially the  Boston  Public  Library,  the  New  York  Public 
Library,  the  Newberry  in  Chicago;  and  a  palatial  building 
was  erected  for  the  enormous  collection  of  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress at  Washington.  Many  small  libraries  were  enlarged  by 
gifts  made  by  Andrew  Carnegie,  a  man  of  large  fortune,  who 
also  gave  (1901)  a  great  fund  to  endow  scientific  and  historical 
research. 


Copyright,  1902,  by  G.  C.  LangiU. 

St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  New  York, 
opened  in  1879. 

Designed  by  James  Ren  wick. 


530 


REORGANIZATION 


American  literature  by  1890  had  lost  its  great  lights  of  the 
"golden  age";  but  a  new  school  of  writers  arose  —  John 
457.  Litera-  Fiske,  Henry  Adams,  James  Ford  Rhodes,  and  Alfred  T. 
tureandart  Malum  among  historians;  Bret  Harte,  W.  1).  Howells, 
George  W.  Cable,  and  Winston  Churchill  among  novelists; 
"Mark  Twain"  (S.  L.  Clemens)  and  "Mr.  Dooley "  (Finley  Peter 
Dunne)   among   satirists;    among  essayists   and   depicters  of 

character,  Joel  Chandler 
Harris  and  Thomas  Nel- 
son Page;  and  the  best 
American  illustrated 
monthly  magazines  are 
unrivaled  in  their  kind. 

For  the  first  time  in 
American  history,  a  gen- 
uine native  school  of  art 
developed,  including  Ab- 
bey, Sargent,  and  Chase, 
among  the  great  artists 
of  the  world;  McMonnies, 
St.  Gaudens,  and  Daniel 
French,  sculptors  for  the 
ages ;  Hunt  and  Richard- 
Designed  by  Richardson.  8on  and  McKim,  world- 
renowned  architects.  Americans,  beginning  with  Frederick 
Law  Olmsted,  learned  to  make  beautiful  grounds,  parks,  and 
boulevards,  and  to  adorn  them. with  such  memorials  as  the 
Washington  Monument  in  Washington,  and  such  public  build- 
ings as  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  in  Chicago. 

Hundreds  of  new  inventions,  and  improvements  in  old  ones, 
458  Prog-     came  mto  use  after  the  Civil  War:    systems  of  heat- 
ressof  in-      ing  buildings  by  hot  air,  steam,  and  hot  water;  artificial 
ice ;  barbed  wire  fencing  and  wire  nails ;  house  drain- 
age ;  building  paper ;  elevators  for  storing  and  loading  grain ; 


Trinity  Church,  Boston,  completed 
in  1877. 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES    (1885-1897) 


531 


passenger  elevators  in  high  buildings;  asphalt  and  wooden 
block  pavement;  plate  glass  windows  of  large  dimensions; 
improved  firearms,  especially  the  automatic  machine  guns  of 
Hiram  Maxim  and  others;  new  explosives,  especially  dyna- 
mite ;  sulky  plows  and  other  farm  machinery  ;  compressed  air 
drills  for  mining ;  steel  safes  and  bank  vaults ;  chemical  dye- 
stuffs;  new  metals  and  alloys.  Many  new  safety  appliances 
were  adopted  in  the  steam  railroad  service,  especially  the  air 
brake,  introduced  by  George  Westinghouse  in  1868,  the  automatic 
coupler,  the  continuous  car  platform  and  vestibule,  telegraphic 
train  dispatching,  and  auto- 
matic switches  and  signals. 

The  system  of  "  assembling  " 
machines  out  of  parts,  each  of 
which  is  made  by  the  thou- 
sand in  standard  dimensions, 
has  wonderfully  cheapened 
many  lines  of  manufacturing  : 
it  is  applied  all  the  way  from 
watch-making  to  locomotive 
building.  It  leads,  however, 
to  subdivision  and  specializa- 
tion of  labor,  and  tends  to 
diminish  all-round  training  of 
mechanics. 

Three     machines     deserve 

.  n  j- /-.n  fv0  l^™    Casts  a  line  of  type  in  one  piece,  from 

special  mention:    (1)  the  low        ^.^  „geV,  by  use  of  a  key. 

bicycle  appeared  about  1876,  board  and  afterward  "  distributed  " 
and  has  been  followed  by  the  automatically, 
automobile;  (2)  the  typewriter,  first  put  on  the  market  in 
1874,  furnishes  a  new  employment  for  thousands  of  men  and 
women ;  (3)  the  type-setting  and  type-casting  machines,  per- 
fected after  1890,  have  quickened  and  cheapened  the  process 
of  making  books  and  newspapers. 


Linotype  Machine. 


532  REORGANIZATION 

The  greatest  inventive  leap  has  been  the  use  of  electricity, 
especially  in  four  forms  :  (1)  electric  lights,  —  first  the  arc,  then 
the  incandescent,  —  pushed  into  use  by  Charles  F.  Brush  and 
Thomas  A.  Edison,  who  took  out  at  Washington  more  than 
one  thousand  patents  for  various  inventions ;  (2)  the  tele- 
phone, first  exhibited  by  Professor  Alexander  Graham  Bell  in 
1876;  (3)  electric  trolley  cars  taking  power  from  a  wire,  made 
practicable  about  1880 ;  (4)  electric  motors  for  fixed  machinery 
and  for  wheeled  vehicles. 

Corresponding  to  the  development  of  new  mechanical  proc- 
esses was  the  growth  of  new  forms  of  business  organization. 
459.  The        Corporations  were  so  numerous  and  so  useful  that  it  was 
trusts  a  great  step  when  (about  1850)  the  states  began  to  stop 

making  special  charters,  and  allowed  people  to  incorporate 
themselves  under  general  laws.  Such  corporations  enjoy  two 
special  privileges :  the  right  to  hold  corporate  property  and  to 
sue;  and  the  limited  liability  of  stockholders,  relieving  them 
from  responsibility  in  their  private  property  for  the  debts  of 
the  company.  In  return,  the  states  have  a  right  to  regulate 
corporations  in  ways  not  applied  to  private  partnerships. 
Nevertheless  many  things  make  it  hard  to  keep  them  in  con- 
trol :  (1)  The  corporation  may  be  so  rich  and  powerful  that  it 
simply  ignores  the  laws  and  government,  as  happened  in  the 
early  days  of  the  "  Standard  Oil  Company  "  ;  (2)  the  corpora- 
tion, though  acting  within  the  law,  may  have  a  monopoly  of 
some  line  of  business  —  such  as  sugar  refining  —  and  thus  defy 
competition ;  (3)  one  corporation  may  own  another  corpora- 
tion, and  mix  up  the  accounts  of  the  concerns,  often  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  small  owners  of  the  stock;  (4)  to  float 
new  enterprises,  great  bankers  and  capitalists  sometimes  get 
together  in  "  syndicates  "  with  secret  and  complicated  interests 
and  obligations;  (/>)  occasionally  several  corporations,  instead 
of  combining,  make  an  agreement  that  the  stock  of  all  the 
corporations  shall  be  held  and  voted  by  a  body  of  trustees. 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES    (1885-1897)  533 

The  last  case  is,  strictly  speaking,  the  only  real  "  trust " ; 
but  the  name  is  loosely  given  to  any  large  corporation  or  com- 
bination of  corporations  which  is  trying  to  control  a  large 
line  of  business  -—  such  as  the  meat  trust  and  the  tobacco 
trust.  A  very  common  form  of  "  trust "  is  a  company  or 
group  of  companies  which  controls  some  public  service,  such 
as  water,  gas,  or  traction,  and  often  holds  a  city  at  its  mercy. 
The  so-called  trusts  increased  very  fast  after  1890,  the  most 
striking  being  the  United  States  Steel  Company,  organized  in 
1901  with  a  capital  of  $1,100,000,000. 

The  great  corporations  most  in  the  public  eye  are  the  rail- 
road companies.     Kailway  kings  like  William  H.  Vanderbilt, 
Jay  Gould,  James  J.  Hill,  and  E.  H.  Harriman  have       460.  Con- 
consolidated  small  roads  into  systems  thousands  of  miles   trolof  ^ns- 

J  portation 

in  extent,  especially  the  trunk  lines  from  Chicago  to  (1881-1887) 
New  York,  and  the  transcontinental  routes.  Up  to  1887  the 
only  power  which  regulated  the  railroads  was  that  of  the  state 
governments,  sometimes  working  through  railroad  commissions, 
with  power  to  investigate  and  supervise,  or  even  to  fix  rates. 
The  states,  however,  had  no  complete  control  over  business 
passing  from  one  state  to  another,  for  interstate  commerce  is 
subject  to  the  federal  government.  The  railroads,  therefore, 
contrary  to  the  established  legal  principle  that  a  common 
carrier  must  take  everybody's  freight  on  equal  terms,  were  in 
the  habit  of  making  discrimination  between  shippers :  (1)  they 
gave  special  rates  to  large  shippers ;  (2)  they  charged  higher 
freights  for  a  shorter  distance  —  say  from  Chicago  to  Syracuse 
—  than  for  a  longer  distance  on  the  same  route  —  say  from 
Chicago  to  New  York  ;  (3)  they  formed  "  pools,"  or  agree- 
ments, by  which  all  the  freight  offered  was  arbitrarily  divided 
among  competing  roads. 

The  federal  government  for  many  years  let  the  railroads 
alone,  and  gave  its  attention  to  water  ways.  Every  year  or 
two  after  1870  a  river  and  harbor  bill  passed  Congress,  and 


534 


REORGANIZATION 


became  law,  unless,  as  several  times  happened,  it  was  vetoed. 
In  1879  Captain  Eads  built  a  system  of  jetties  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  which  made  New  Orleans  a  deep-sea  harbor. 
For  the  enormous  lake  trade  in  iron  ore,  coal,  grain,  and  lumber, 
the  government  built  a  ship  canal  between  Lake  Superior  and 
Lake  Huron,  around  the  falls  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie ;  deepened 
the  channels  through  St.  Clair  Lake  and  the  Detroit  River; 


461.  Na- 
tional con- 
trol of 
interstate 
commerce 
(1887-1903) 


Locks  of  the  Sault  Canal,  completed  in  1896. 

and  made  harbors  at  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  Cleveland,  Buffalo, 
and  many  smaller  lake  ports. 

Eventually  public  sentiment  forced  Congress  to  pass  the 
"Cullom  Act,"  or  Interstate  Commerce  Act  (February  4, 
1887),  to  regulate  commerce  between  the  states,  on  the 
following  principles :  (1)  the  railroads  were  forbidden  to 
make  a  higher  charge  to  one  customer  than  to  another 
for  the  same  service ;  (2)  they  were  forbidden  to  form 
"  pools  " ;  (3)  all  freight  rates  were  to  be  publicly  posted 
and  could  neither  be  raised  nor  lowered  without  notice ;  (4)  by 
the  "  short  haul  clause,"  no  railroad  could  charge  more  for 
carrying  freight  a  shorter  distance  than  it  charged  for  carry- 
ing freight  over  the  same  line  to  a  greater  distance ;  (5)  the 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL  ISSUES    (1885-1897)  535 

roads  were  to  make  sworn  reports  of  their  business  to  the 
government.  To  carry  out  this  act,  an  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  was  provided  with  power  to  investigate  and  make 
decisions.  Since  1887  Congress  has  passed  other  acts  on  inter- 
state trade,  increasing  the  power  of  the  commission ;  prohibit- 
ing the  roads  from  combining  to  restrain  trade  (1890) ;  stopping 
the  transportation  of  liquors  into  prohibition  states  (1890); 
compelling  the  roads  to  use  a  uniform  car  coupler  (1893) ;  and 
forbidding  the  circulation  of  mail  or  express  matter  intended 
for  lotteries  or  gift  concerns  (1895). 

The  advances  to  the  Pacific  railroads  (§  434)  by  1899 
amounted  to  $64,000,000  of  the  original  bonds,  and  $72,000,000 
of  interest,  paid  by  the  United  States.  Under  pressure  from  the 
government,  the  roads  repaid  nearly  all  of  this  money. 

The  regulation  of  railroads  suggested  that  Congress  might 
also  regulate  any  corporation  or  trust  which  did  a  foreign  or 
interstate   business.     Accordingly  Congress   passed   the     462.  Regu- 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  (July  2, 1890),  which  penalized        ^J^! 
illegal  combinations  of  manufacturing  and  trading  com-  tions 

panies,  as  well  as  of  railroads.  In  some  cases  trusts  used  their 
monopoly  to  sell  cheaper  to  foreigners  than  to  home  customers. 
The  states  also  tried  to  regulate  corporations  in  business  done 
entirely  within  the  limits  of  one  state.  Some  states  have  gas, 
insurance,  and  other  executive  commissions;  some  rely  on 
requiring  corporation  accounts  to  be  filed;  some  tax  the  trusts; 
and  New  York  state,  in  1899,  taxed  the  traction  companies 
on  the  value  of  their  privilege  to  use  the  streets. 

The  labor  unions  grew  as  fast  as  the  trusts.     The  first  large 
unions  were  made  up  of  all  the  men  in  a  particular  trade  that 
would  join — for  example,  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomo-    463  Labor 
tive  Engineers.     In  1886  the   American   Federation   of      andimmi- 
Labor  was  formed,  to  unite  so  far  as  possible  the  special 
trades  unions  into  a  national  body,  which  should  have  authority 
to  order  men  in  one  trade  to  strike  in  order  to  help  strikers  in 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 32 


536 


REORGANIZATION 


another  trade ;  and  the  Federation  through  strikes  pressed  the 
issue  whether  employers  would  "  recognize  the  union,"  —  that 
is,  would  make  agreements  with  their  employees  only  through 
officers  of  the  union,  —  and  would  establish  the  "  closed  shop  " 
—  that  is,  would  employ  only  union  hands. 

The  supply  of  labor  was  affected  by  a  wave  of  immigration 
of  races  which,  up  to  1870,  were  not  much  known  in  America 

—  Italians,  French  Canadians, 
Poles,  Bohemians,  Hungarians, 
Eussian  Jews,  Slovaks,  Armeni- 
ans, Greeks,  and  Syrians.  The 
workingmen  secured  from  Con- 
gress a  series  of  acts  somewhat 
restricting  immigration.  (1)  Con- 
victs, idiots,  and  like  unfit  persons 
were  shut  out,  and  a  head  tax  of 
fifty  cents  was  laid  on  all  immi- 
grants admitted  (1882).  (2)  Con- 
gress excluded  "contract  labor- 
ers "  who  might  come  over  under 
an  agreement  to  take  a  specified 
job  when  they  arrived  (1885). 
Landing  of  Immigrants,  1900.  (3)  Polygamists,  diseased  persons, 
and  persons  unable  to  support  themselves  were  shut  out  (1891). 
(4)  The  immigrant  head  tax  was  raised  to  two  dollars  (1903). 
That  some  foreigners  were  dangerous  to  society  was  shown 
by  an  anarchist  outbreak  in  Chicago  (May  4,  1886).  After 
weeks  of  violent  speeches,  principally  by  foreigners,  urging 
people  to  resist  the  government,  a  dynamite  bomb  was  thrown 
in  the  Haymarket  and  killed  seven  policemen.  The  crime 
was  supposed  to  result  from  the  utterances  of  the  anarchists ; 
several  of  them  were  convicted,  and  four  were  executed  After 
the  assassination  of  McKinley  by  an  anarchist,  the  immigra- 
tion of  anarchists  was  prohibited  (1903). 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES    (1885-1897)  537 

A  test  of  the  power  of  the  new  labor  unions  was  a  series  of 
great  strikes.     The  first  came  in  1886  on  the  Gould  system  of 
railroads  leading  southwest  from  St.  Louis.      In   1892,   4g4  Era  of 
in  a  fearful  strike  at  the  Homestead  Iron  Works  near  strikes 

Pittsburg,  a  body  of  private  guards,  furnished  by  a  de- 
tective agency,  and  sworn  in  as  constables,  were  fired  upon  by 
the  strikers,  several  of  them  killed,  and  wounded  men  were  put 
to  death  by  infuriated  men  and  women.  There  were  many 
strikes  during  1893  and  1894,  of  which  the  worst  began  in  a 
strike  of  the  hands  employed  by  the  Pullman  Car  Works  near 
Chicago.  The  American  Railway  Union,  through  their  presi- 
dent, Eugene  V.  Debs,  took  up  the  dispute,  and  demanded  that 
the  company  settle  it  with  them,  as  representing  organized  labor. 
When  the  company  refused,  Debs  called  out  the  railroad  men 
on  a  "sympathetic  strike";  and  the  men  on  one  road  after 
another  refused  to  handle  first  Pullman  cars,  then  the  cars  of 
the  "tied-up  roads,"  till  the  whole  railway  business  of  Chicago, 
and  indeed  of  the  whole  great  country  west  of  Chicago,  was  in 
confusion.  Non-union  men  (called  "  scabs  "  by  the  strikers) 
who  were  employed  by  the  railroads  were  beaten,  and  some  of 
them  killed.  The  unions  disclaimed  responsibility  for  these 
acts  of  violence. 

As  the  government  of  Illinois  did  not  keep  order,  President 
Cleveland  made  use  of  the  only  organized  force  adequate  for 
such  cases  by  calling  out  United  States  troops  to  prevent  the 
obstruction  of  United  States  mails  and  of  interstate  commerce 
(July  8,  1894).  This  broke  the  strike,  and  the  Pullman  Com- 
pany then  came  to  an  understanding  with  its  employees.  A 
federal  court  served  an  injunction  on  Debs,  forbidding  him  to 
interfere  with  interstate  commerce.  As  he  ignored  this  injunc- 
tion, Debs  was  imprisoned  for  contempt  of  court,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  held  the  sentence  good. 

Economic  reforms  can  be  carried  out  only  by  wise  and 
impartial  governments,  and  people  awakened  to  the  need  of 


538  REORGANIZATION 

purifying  national,  state,  and  municipal  politics.     President 
Cleveland  made  some  progress  in  improving  the  civil  service ; 
465.  Politi-    but  outside  the  "classified  service"  he  sanctioned  thou- 
form6  sands  of  removals,  especially  among  the  postmasters,  in 

[1883-1895)  order  to  make  room  for  party  friends.  Under  Cleve- 
land's successor,  Harrison,  the  chairman  of  the  Civil  Service 
Commission  was  Theodore  Roosevelt,  who  gave  the  name  of 
"  Merit  System  "  to  the  method  of  opening  the  public  service 
to  those  who  passed  the  best  competitive  examinations,  and  he 
followed  up  officials  who  violated  the  law ;  44,000  offices  were 
by  1893  placed  in  the  classified  service. 

Several  other  defects  in  the  workings  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment were  corrected  in  this  period.  A  Presidential  Succession 
Act  (January  19,  1886)  provided  that  in  case  of  the  death  or 
disability  of  the  President  and  Vice  President,  the  Secretary 
of  State  should  fill  the  vacancy,  and  if  he  were  disabled,  some 
other  member  of  the  Cabinet  in  a  specified  succession.  The 
danger  felt  in  1877  in  the  count  of  electoral  votes  for  President 
was  removed  by  an  act  (February  3,  1887)  for  accepting  as 
final  the  certificate  of  state  electoral  authorities.  The  Ten- 
ure of  Office  Act  of  1867,  which  caused  the  impeachment  of 
Johnson  (§  429),  was  completely  repealed  (March  3, 1887).  The 
House  of  Representatives  found  its  business  blocked  by  "  fili- 
bustering "  motions  and  amendments  meant  to  kill  time ;  and 
under  the  leadership  of  the  Speaker,  Thomas  B.  Reed,  one  of 
the  ablest  men  of  his  time,  adopted  in  1890  a  new  code  of 
rules  giving  the  Speaker  more  power  to  stop  such  practices. 

The  states  felt  the  reforming  spirit,  and  two  of  them  —  New 
York  (1883)  and  Massachusetts  (1884)  —  passed  statutes  for 
the  Merit  System;  and  it  was  later  introduced  into  Chicago 
(1895)  and  other  cities.  The  cities  tried  to  improve  their 
governments  by  securing  new  charters  from  the  legislatures. 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  and  several  smaller  places  united 
in  1897  in  the  city  of  "  Greater  New  York,"  second  in  popu- 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES    (1885-1897)  539 

lation  and  wealth  only  to  London.  To  solve  the  difficulties  of 
handling  great  numbers  of  people  by  private  traction  com- 
panies, independent  subways  were  built  by  the  cities  of  Boston 
(1898)  and  New  York  (1904) ;  and  Chicago,  in  1903,  took  steps 
looking  to  public  ownership  of  all  the  traction  lines  in  the  city. 
Several  states  made  more  stringent  laws  against  fraud  and 


Williamsburg  Bridge,  New  York. 
(Completed  in  1904  ;  main  span,  1600  feet.) 

bribery  in  elections,  and  for  preliminary  registration  of  voters. 
To  protect  the  voter  in  his  right  to  cast  a  secret  ballot,  the 
states  began,  in  1888,  to  provide  the  "  Australian  ballot,"  an 
official  list  of  all  the  accredited  candidates,  on  which  the  voter 
in  a  booth  by  himself  marks  with  a  penciled  cross  the  names 
or  party  tickets  voted  for.  A  majority  of  the  states  have 
adopted  this  ballot,  and  also  laws  against  soliciting  votes  at  or 
very  near  the  polling  place;  the  reform  aids  secrecy  in  vot- 


540  REORGANIZATION 

ing,  and  thus  helps  independent  candidates.  Many  states 
have  also  passed  laws  to  regulate  the  "caucus"  or  "primary 
meeting,"  so  as  to  give  all  the  voters  of  a  party  a  chance  to 
take  part  in  nominating  candidates. 

For  many  years  the  suffrage  tended  constantly  to  expand, 
till  in  1876  it  was  extended  to  women  in  Wyoming.  Three 
other  territories  and  states  have  since  adopted  the  same  rule. 
About  1890  began  a  reaction  against  a  general  suffrage  in  the 
southern  states,  marked  by  a  series  of  new  constitutions  pro- 
viding educational  and  tax  qualifications,  intended  to  exclude 
most  of  the  negroes.  Another  development  in  the  states  was 
the  provision  in  several  western  constitutions  for  the  "  initia- 
tive "  and  "  referendum,"  —  methods  for  proposing  laws  and  for 
submitting  them  to  acceptance  or  rejection  by  popular  votes. 

Side  by  side  with  the  legislation  by  the  nation  and  states  on 

general  economic  and  social  problems  went  a  long  and  fierce 

466.  Reve-     struggle  over  national  finance,  especially  the  tariff  and  the 

nue  and         currency.     President  Cleveland  set  the  political  issue  for 

the  tariff  J  ,  r 

(1887-1890)   the  campaign  of   1888  in  his  annual  message  of  1887, 

Contempo-      in  which  he  discussed  only  the  tariff:    "It  is  a  condi- 

520    '  tion  which  confronts  us  —  not  a  theory,"  said  he.     The 

"condition"  was  an  annual  surplus  which,  in  1887,  reached 

$56,000,000,  and  which  was  partly  due  to  the  high  import 

duties.    It  locked  up,  in  the  treasury,  currency  needed  for  trade, 

and  was  a  temptation  to   extravagant  appropriations.      The 

Democratic    convention    of    1888    unanimously    renominated 

Cleveland;   the   Republicans  settled  on   Benjamin  Harrison, 

who  had  been  senator  from  Indiana,  and  candidate  for  governor 

of  that  state.     For  the  first  time  the  Republican  platform  and 

party  made  high  protection  a  party  principle.     By  a  plurality 

of  13,002  votes  in  New  York,  Harrison  carried  that  state,  and 

thus  secured  233  electoral  votes  to  168,  and  was  elected ;  though 

the  Cleveland  men  cast  about  100,000  more  popular  votes  than 

the  supporters  of  Harrison. 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES    (1885-1897)  541 

In  the  session  of  1888-1889  a  controversy  arose  about  pen- 
sions. Congress  had  kept  the  promises  made  to  the  soldiers 
during  the  Civil  War  —  that  they  and  their  families  should 
not  suffer  want  because  of  their  service.  Pensions  were  liber- 
ally voted  to  the  widows  and  minor  children  of  soldiers  killed ; 
and  to  the  living  veterans  suffering  from  permanent  wounds 
or  disability  contracted  in  the  service,  if  they  needed  help; 
and  in  1889  the  pensioners  numbered  490,000  and  drew 
$89,000,000  a  year.  A  Dependent  Pension  Bill  passed  both 
houses  (January  31,  1887),  granting  a  pension  to  every  sur- 
vivor of  those  who  had  served  in  the  war  if  not  able  to  support 
himself  by  physical  labor.  Cleveland  vetoed  it  on  the  ground 
that  there  was  no  public  need  for  pensioning  men  who  had 
means  or  could  be  supported  by  their  children. 

The  first  Congress  under  Harrison  had  a  Republican  major- 
ity in  both  houses,  and  began  in  1890  to  vote  money  freely : 
$20,000,000  of  direct  tax  paid  during  the  Civil  War  (§  380)  was 
refunded  to  the  northern  states  ;  public  buildings  were  provided 
for  small  cities ;  a  ship  subsidy  act  was  passed,  under  which 
about  $700,000  a  year  has  since  been  paid;  the  Dependent 
Pension  Act  was  passed,  and  the  outgo  for  pensions  jumped 
up  to  an  average  of  $140,000,000  a  year.  A  new  navy  had 
already  been  begun,  and  in  1893  the  country  possessed  "  the 
white  squadron  "  of  armed  cruisers,  besides  gunboats  and  tor- 
pedo craft. 

In  accordance  with  the  Republican  platform  of  1888,  a  new 
tariff  was  drawn  up  by  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  of 
which  William  McKinley  was  chairman,  and  the  bill  took  its 
"name  from  him.  The  Republicans  argued  the  necessity  of  pro- 
tecting American  manufacturers  and  laborers  from  foreign  com- 
petition, and  of  reserving  "the  home  market"  for  American 
producers ;  the  Democrats  contended  that  the  tariff  kept  up 
the  prices  to  the  consumer  of  protected  products,  was  class 
legislation,  and  brought  in  an  unnecessary  and  dangerous  sur- 


542 


REORGANIZATION 


plus.  The  tariff  of  1883  on  dutiable  goods  averaged  about 
45  per  cent;  the  McKinley  tariff  (passed  October  1,  1890) 
raised  it  to  about  49  per  cent;  but  the  "free  list"  of  goods 
admitted  without  duty  was  larger  in  the  McKinley  bill  than 
in  the  previous  tariff. 

The  debates  on  the  trusts  and  on  the  tariff  brought  out  the 

fact  that  the  South  and  West  felt  —  with  some  reason  —  that 

467.  Free      they   got   less   than  their   share   of    the  nation's   pros- 

to  tariff*      Perity-     Hence  the  formation  (1887)  of  a  Farmer's  Alli- 

(1890-1895)  ance,   which    carried   the    stanch  Eepublican   states   of 

Kansas  and  Nebraska;  and  a  National  People's  party  was  soon 


18 

fc.io 

.1.00 
,90 
.80 

34  1840     1850     i860     1870      1880     1890     1900     1910 

i 

\ 

.70 
.60 
.50 
.40 
,30 
.20 

.10 
0 

\ 

u 

V 

V 

10 
1.00 

.go 

.80 

.70 
.00 
.50 
.10 


1834  1840      1850      1860      1870      1880      1890      1900      1910 

Change  in  the  Market  Price  of  Silver. 
Distance  from  base  line  shows  gold  value  of  the  silver  in  a  silver  dollar. 


formed  (May,  1891).  The  silver-producing  states  —  Colorado, 
Montana,  Wyoming,  Idaho,  and  Nevada  —  joined  the  move- 
ment, because  the  price  of  their  product  went  down  from  89 
cents  in  gold,  for  the  weight  of  a  standard  silver  dollar  in  1878, 
to  73  cents  in  1889,  and  67  cents  in  1892.     The  combination 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES    (1885-1897)  543 

showed  its  strength  in  1890  by  introducing  a  bill  for  the  free 
coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1;  which  would  have 
enabled  owners  of  silver  bullion  to  turn  it  into  legal  tender 
silver  dollars.  To  head  off  this  bill,  Congress  passed  the 
Sherman  Act  (July  14, 1890),  which  provided  that  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  should  buy  4,500,000  ounces  of  silver  bullion 
each  month  at  the  market  price,  paying  for  it  in  a  new  kind  of 
paper  notes.  Thus  a  market  was  given  to  the  silver  producers, 
and  the  currency  was  increased  to  satisfy  the  West  and  South. 

The  McKinley  tariff  raised  the  prices  on  silk,  woolen,  and 
cotton  goods  of  every  kind,  and  thus  brought  its  effect  home 
to  thousands  of  buyers.  Hence  the  Democrats  went  hopefully 
into  the  campaign  of  1892,  on  the  tariff  issue,  and  again  nomi- 
nated Cleveland,  who  won  a  sweeping  victory.  He  had  277 
electoral  votes  to  145  for  Harrison  and  22  for  a  People's  party 
candidate,  and  a  popular  plurality  of  380,000  ;  and  his  party 
elected  a  majority  in  the  House  and  Senate  for  1893-1895. 

When  Cleveland  was  a  second  time  inaugurated  (March  4, 
1893),  the  treasury  was  in  difficulties,  which  brought  on  the 
severest  commercial  crisis  in  twenty  years.  A  panic  was 
prevented  only  by  the  banks  standing  by  one  another,  and 
calling  on  Congress  for  relief.  As  always  happens  in  hard 
times,  the  tariff  revenues  fell  off;  the  expenses  of  the  govern- 
ment increased ;  and  the  gold  in  the  treasury  ran  down  till  it 
looked  as  though  the  holders  of  the  paper  notes  would  make 
a  run  on  the  treasury.  A  special  session  of  Congress  reluc- 
tantly listened  to  the  appeals  of  President  Cleveland  and 
the  bankers,  and  stopped  the  silver  purchases  (November  1, 
1893).     After  a  few  months  business  revived. 

The  Democrats  kept  their  campaign  promise  of  making  a 
new  tariff,  which  was  framed  in  1894  by  William  L.  Wilson, 
chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee ;  but  the  Senate, 
under  the  lead  of  Gorman  of  Maryland,  put  in  so  many  pro- 
tective duties  that  the  President  would  not  sign  it,  but  let  it 


544  REORGANIZATION 

become  an  act  without  his  signature.  The  act  included  an 
income  tax  of  2  per  cent  on  all  incomes  exceeding  $4000  a 
year,  which  of  course  bore  hardest  on  the  wealthy  eastern 
and  middle  states.  On  a  test  case,  the  Supreme  Court  decided 
(May,  1895)  that  any  income  tax  levied  on  income  from  real 
estate  or  personal  property  was  unconstitutional  unless  dis- 
tributed in  proportion  to  the  population  of  the  states,  although 


Electric  Tower,  in  Exposition  at  Buffalo,  1901. 

such  a  tax  had  been  levied  during  the  Civil  War  (§  380) ;  and 
the  treasury  was  obliged  to  give  up  a  revenue  estimated  at 
$40,000,000  a  year.  The  customs  dropped  from  $203,000,000 
in  1893  to  $132,000,000  in  1894;  and  for  the  first  time  since 
the  Civil  War  there  was  a  serious  deficit,  amounting  to 
$70,000,000  ;  for  several  years  this  deficit  was  repeated,  so 
that  the  public  debt  increased  $250,000,000  previous  to  the 
Spanish  War  of  1898. 


ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  ISSUES   (1885-1897)  545 

Notwithstanding  the  hard   times  of  1893,   a   magnificent 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  was  held  at  Chicago  dur-  468. 

ing  that  year.     The  buildings  were  superb  and  the  ex-  0*™r* 

hibits   very   striking,   and   23,000,000   admissions  were  (1893-1904) 
recorded.     Similar  exhibitions  were  held  on  a  smaller  scale 
at  Buffalo  (1901)  and  at  Charleston  (1902),  and  a  still  larger 
and  more  elaborate  one  at  St.  Louis  in  1904. 

Many  new  foreign  questions  arose  after  1885,  in  which 
James  G.  Blaine,  as  Harrison's  Secretary  of  State  from  1889 
to  1892,  was  a  principal  agent.  Blaine  was  born  in  Penn-  469  latin 
sylvania  in  1830,  settled  in  Maine,  went  to  Congress  in  America 
1863,  was  Speaker  from  1869  to  1875,  and  then  Senator 
from  Maine.  He  was  always  a  strong  partisan,  believed  in  his 
own  side  and  hated  and  attacked  his  political  opponents.  He 
was  an  effective  debater,  but  made  many  enemies  by  saying 
bitter  things— as  when  he  called  Senator  Conkling  of  New 
York  a  "  turkey  cock."  Blaine  has  often  been  compared  with 
Henry  Clay,  whom  he  much  resembled  in  his  strong  assertion 
of  the  rights  of  America,  his  power  of  making  personal  friends, 
and  his  long  and  unsuccessful  ambition  to  be  President ;  but 
he  was  too  quick  and  aggressive  to  be  a  good  diplomat.  Blaine 
could  not  get  on  with  President  Harrison,  resigned  in  1892, 
and  died  not  long  after,  a  disappointed  man. 

The  question  of  the  Isthmus  made  no  progress  under  Blaine's 
second  secretaryship  of  state.  In  1890  he  called  a  Pan-American 
Congress  at  Washington,  which  recommended  a  Pan-American 
bank,  a  Pan-American  railroad,  and  commercial  reciprocity 
treaties.  Some  such  treaties  were  negotiated  but  were  never 
confirmed  by  the  Senate,  because  reciprocity  with  our  neigh- 
bors means  that  both  sides  shall  reduce  their  tariffs. 

The  difficulty  of  keeping  on  good  terms  with  our  Latin- 
American  neighbors  was  shown  by  a  dispute  with  Chile. 
Some  of  the  men  of  the  United  States  ship  Baltimore  were 
attacked  on  the  streets  of  Valparaiso  (October,  1891);  one  was 


546  ^ORGANIZATION 

killed  and  several  wounded.     Three  months  passed  without  a 

suitable  apology,  and  President  Harrison  (January  25,  1892) 

sent  a  message  to  Congress  suggesting  war ;  but  on  the  same 

day  the  long-delayed  apology  came,  and  hostilities  were  avoided. 

Blaine  inherited  and  aggravated  another  dispute  which  took 

several  years  to  settle.     The  United  States  claimed  that  its 

470.  The        possession  of  the  seal  fisheries  in  Alaska  included  the 

the  fisheries  wnole   Bering   Sea;   and  Canadian  vessels  which  took 

(1886-i893)   seals  in  the  open  sea  were  seized  by  our  revenue  cutters 

(1886).     Blaine   defended   the    seizure,   on  the   ground    that 

Bering  Sea  belonged   to   the   United   States,  although  John 

Quincy  Adams  in  1823  absolutely  denied  that  anybody  could 

shut  up  any  part  of   the  north  Pacific  Ocean.     Then  Blaine 

argued  that  the  seals  really  were  a  kind  of  tame  "  seal  herds," 

the  property  of  the  United  States  wherever  they  went,  even 

in  the  open  sea.      In  1893  the  controversy  was  settled  by  a 

board    of    arbitration   in   Paris,  which    decided   against  the 

United  States. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  were  suddenly  aroused  in 
December,  1895,  by  an  unexpected  message  from  President 
471.  Ven-      Cleveland,  describing  a  long-standing   boundary  contro- 
boundary       versy  between  Venezuela  and  the  British  colony  of  Brit- 
(1895)  ish  Guiana,  and  stating  that  Great  Britain  had  declined 

the  mediation  of  the  United  States  and  refused  to  arbitrate 
the  dispute.     This  action  Cleveland  and  his  Secretary  of  State, 
Eichard  Olney,  construed  to  be  an  attempt  by  Great  Britain  to 
Contempo-      contr°l  Part  of  an  American  state,  and  hence  contrary 
varies, IV.      to  the  Monroe  Doctrine.     "To-day  the  United  States" 
said  Olney,  "is  practically  sovereign  on  this  continent, 
and  its  fiat  is  law  upon  the  subjects  to  which  it  confines  its  in- 
terposition."    The  President  unmistakably  threatened  war 

A  commission  was  appointed  by  the  President  to  find  out 
the  true  Venezuelan  boundary.  Great  Britain  was  taken 
aback  at  this  unexpected  feeling  on  a  dispute  which  seemed 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES    (1885-1897)  547 

far  removed  from  any  interest  of  the  United  States,  but  grace- 
fully yielded  and  accepted  arbitration;  and  the  arbitrators 
decided  (1899)  that  Great  Britain  was  entitled  to  most  of  the 
territory  claimed. 

Low  prices  for  silver,  wheat,  and  cotton  kept  the  West 
and  South  poor ;  the  People's  party  controlled  several  states, 
and  took  up  as  its  special  grievance  the  repeal  of  the  472.  Elec 
silver  purchase  in  1893.  On  this  question  the  Democrats  tlon  of  1896 
were  divided.  Their  regular  convention  met  at  Chicago  (July, 
1896),  protested  against  the  income  tax  decision,  declared  for 
the  free  coinage  of  silver,  and  nominated  William  J.  Bryan 
of  Nebraska,  a  remarkable  speaker  and  leader.  The  People's 
party,  including  many  former  Republicans,  also  nominated 
Bryan  for  President,  but  put  up  a  separate  "middle  of  the 
road"  man  for  the  vice  presidency;  the  two  parties,  however, 
practically  voted  for  the  same  electoral  ticket.  The  "  Sound 
Money  Democrats  "  made  a  separate  nomination. 

The  Republican  nominating  convention  at  St.  Louis  in  1896 
declared  again  for  protection  and  adopted  a  plank  against  free 
coinage  of  silver,  unless  the  principal  nations  of  the  world 
would  agree  to  it;  they  nominated  their  logical  candidate, 
William  McKinley  of  Ohio.  In  the  lively  campaign  of  1896 
both  McKinley  and  Bryan  spoke  frequently  to  immense  audi- 
ences. The  result  was  for  a  long  time  in  doubt ;  but  wheat 
unexpectedly  rose  in  price,  and  Mr.  McKinley  gained  in  the 
farming  states  and  was  elected  by  271  electoral  votes  to  176, 
and  a  plurality  of  600,000.  He  received  the  votes  of  all  the 
northeastern  and  central  states,  North  Dakota,  California, 
Oregon,  and  four  southern  states;  and  the  Republicans  got 
control  of  both  houses  of  Congress. 

Though  the  tariff  played  little  part  in  the  election,  President 
McKinley  summoned  a  special  session  of  Congress,  which 
passed  the  Dingley  tariff  (July  24,  1897),  the  third  within 
seven  years.     This  tariff  restored  and  somewhat  raised  the 


548  REORGANIZATION 

scale  of  the  McKinley  duties.  Its  enemies  in  Congress  main- 
tained that  it  was  passed  in  fulfillment  of  a  promise  to  the 
protected  industries  that  they  should  have  some  return  for 
making  large  contributions  to  the  campaign  fund.  A  great 
increase  in  the  world's  production  of  gold  put  the  currency 
question  on  a  new  basis  so  that  it  was  not  difficult  to  secure 
an  act  of  Congress  (March  14,  1900)  establishing  the  single 
gold  standard. 

The  period  from  1884  to  1897  was  one  of  great  excitement. 
Four  times  there  was  a  change  of  parties  in  the  White  House ; 
473.  Sum-      an(i  the  country  saw  four  successive  tariff  acts:  (1)  the 
mary  act  of  1883,  which  was  rather  more  protective  than  the 

previous  war  tariff;  (2)  the  act  of  1890,  which  was  highly 
protective;  (3)  the  act  of  1894,  which  was  still  protective, 
although  the  duties  were  reduced;  (4)  the  tariff  of  1897, 
which  was  the  highest  of  the  series.  The  contest  over  the 
currency  was  marked  by  the  Sherman  silver  purchase  act 
(1890),  the  repeal  of  that  act  (1893),  and  the  gold  standard 
act  (1900). 

The  organization  of  labor  and  of  capital  came  forward  in  a 
new  shape,  by  the  attempt  to  unite  all  the  skilled  labor  of  the 
country  in  a  national  labor  union,  and  by  the  creation  of  cor- 
porations with  immense  capital,  controlling  whole  lines  of 
business.  Congress  passed  several  acts  to  control  "trusts" 
doing  an  interstate  business  —  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act 
(1887),  the  Anti-Trust  Act  (1890),  and  the  act  for  publicity  of 
accounts  (1903). 

Controversies  with  foreign  countries  related  almost  wholly 
to  American  questions,  especially  reciprocity,  the  Bering 
Sea  sealing  question,  the  isthmian  canal,  and  the  Venezuela 
boundary.  War  was  several  times  possible,  but  the  spirit  of 
peace  prevailed.  Throughout  the  country  there  was  prosperity 
notwithstanding  the  crisis  of  1893;  inventions  increased,  the 


ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   ISSUES  •  (1885-1897)  549 

comforts  of  life  were  greater,  education  was  better  and  more 
widely  spread;  it  was  a  happy  country. 


TOPICS 


(1)  Why  did  new  issues  come  up  in  the  presidential  election  of   Suggestive 


1884?  (2)  What  does  "  mugwump  "  mean?  (3)  Why  was  the 
South  "solid"  in  1884?  (4)  Why  has  the  United  States  so 
rapidly  disposed  of  the  arable  public  land?  (5)  Why  have  so 
many  women's  colleges  been  founded  since  1865  ?  (6)  Why  have 
there  been  so  many  inventions  since  1865  ?  (7)  What  is  the  ad- 
vantage of  general  laws  for  corporations  over  special  charters? 
(8)  Why  do  so  many  river  and  harbor  bills  fail  to  get  through 
Congress  ?  (9)  What  is  the  advantage  of  publicity  in  corporation 
accounts  ?  (10)  Why  are  "  contract  laborers  "  forbidden  to  immi- 
grate to  this  country  ?  (11)  Why  was  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act 
repealed  in  1887  ?  (12)  What  are  the  advantages  of  the  Australian 
ballot  ?  (13)  What  is  the  objection  to  a  surplus  ?  (14)  Why  was 
the  French  Panama  Canal  a  failure  ? 

(15)  Political  career  of  Blaine  up  to  1884.  (16)  President 
Cleveland's  vetoes.  (17)  Rush  for  land  in  Oklahoma  in  1889  ;  in 
1891  ;  in  1893.  (18)  Beauties  of  the  Yosemite  Park.  (19)  Beau- 
ties of  the  Yellowstone  Park.  (20)  Description  of  the  Library  of 
Congress.  (21)  Mr.  Dooley  on  American  politics.  (22)  Winston 
Churchill's  historical  novels.  (23)  Debate  on  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Act  of  1887.     (24)  Haymarket  mob  in  Chicago  in  1886. 

(25)  Speaker    Reed's    "counting    a    quorum,"    January,    1890. 

(26)  Financial  crisis  of  1893.  (27)  Debates  on  the  Wilson  tariff 
of  1894.  (28)  Proceedings  of  the  Pan-American  Congress  of 
1890.  (29)  Nomination  of  Bryan  in  1896.  (30)  Debate  on  the 
Dingley  tariff  of  1897.  (31)  Why  did  the  Supreme  Court  disallow 
the  income  tax  in  1895  ? 


topics 


Search 
topics 


REFERENCES 

See  map,  pp.  10,  11  ;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions,  310-396; 
Ford,  National  Problems. 

Wilson.  Division  and  Reunion,  §§  142-148  ;  Johnston,  Politics, 
265-279  :  Stanwood,  Presidency,  419-569 ;  Ford,  National  Problems  ; 
Wilson,  American  People,  V.  169-269;  Cambridge  Modern  His- 
tory, VII.  655-674,  (597-722  ;  Gay,  Bryant's  History,  V.  544-674  ; 
Lamed,  History  for  Beady  Reference,  V.  3581,  VI.  145,  553,  684  ; 
Brown,   Lower  South,  247-271 ;  Cable,  Negro.  Question)  Dewey, 


Geography 


Secondary- 
authorities 


550 


REORGANIZATION 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


Financial  History,  §§  181-196;  Noyes,  American  Finance,  104- 
254;  Taussig,  Tariff  History,  251-409  j  Stan  wood,  American  Tariff 
Controversies,  II.  210-394  ;  Hart,  Practical  Essays,  98-132. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §  138,  —  Contemporaries,  IV.  §§  161,  164- 
167,  170-172,  178,  179,  197-209;  MacDonald,  Select  Statutes,  nos. 
109-127  ;  American  History  Leaflets,  no.  6  ;  Johnston,  American 
Orations,  IV.  238-269,329-420;  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopcedia, 
1885-1897.  SeeN.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n,  Historical  Sources, 
§§  90,  91. 

Frank  Norris,  The  Octopus,  —  The  Pit ;  Will  Payne,  Money 
Captain  ;  H.  K.  Webster,  Banker  and  the  Bear  (corner)  ;  Merwin 
and  Webster,  Calumet  '"if,"  —  Short  Line  War  (labor,  corpo- 
rations) ;  Anonymous,  The  Breadwinners  ;  Octave  Thanet,  Heart 
of  Toil ;  J.  A.  Riis,  How  the  Other  Half  Lives,  —  Children  of  the 
Poor;  W.  E.  B.  DuBois,  Souls  of  Black  Folk;  P.  L.  Dunbar, 
Folks  from  Dixie ;  C.  W.  Chesnutt,  Marrow  of  Tradition 
(negroes) ;  Emma  Rayner,  Handicapped  among  the  Free  (negroes)  ; 
C.  E.  Craddock,  Prophet  of  the  Great  Smoky  Mountain;  Owen 
Wister,  The  Virginian  (Western)  ;  M.  H.  Foote,  Cozur  d'Alene 
(mining),  —  Chosen  Valley  (irrigation)  ;  M.  L.  Luther,  The 
Henchman. 

Harper's  Weekly ;  Harper's  Monthly ;  Scribner's  Monthly  ; 
Century. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 
THE    SPANISH   WAR   AND   ITS   RESULTS    (1897-1903) 

A  new  era  of  national  history  began  when  our  territory  was 
extended  by  war  with  Spain  in  1898.     After  the  end  of  the 
Cuban  insurrection  in  1878,  Cuba  quickly  recovered  pros-        474.  The 
perity,  till  the  island  had  an  export  trade  of  $100,000,000      SUrrection 
a  year,  most  of  it  to  the  United  States.     Yet  many  of  (1895-1898) 
the  native-born  Cubans  were  discontented,  for  in  government 
and  society  they  were  considered  inferiors  by  the  "  peninsu- 
lars," or  native  Spaniards ;  taxes  were  high ;  and  the  trade  of 
the  island  was,  so  far  as  possible,  kept  in  the  hands  of  Spanish 
merchants. 

An  insurrection  broke  out  in  Cuba  in  1895,  aided  by  a 
"Junta,"  a  council  of  wealthy  Cubans  in  the  United  States, 
who  within  three  years  sent  from  the  United  States  more  than 
twenty  filibustering  expeditions,  with  arms  and  men  for  the 
insurgents.  The  war  was  savage  on  both  sides ;  the  sugar 
plantations  were  devastated,  and  neither  party  could  beat  the 
other.  The  Spaniards  held  the  western  end  of  the  island,  and 
ordered  the  people  outside  the  towns  to  come  within  the  Span- 
ish lines  into  reconcentrado  camps,  where  many  of  them 
miserably  perished.  Property  was  destroyed,  often  that  of 
American  citizens ;  and  some  American  residents,  traders,  and 
newspaper  correspondents  were  arrested  on  proof  or  on  sus- 
picion that  they  were  helping  the  insurgents. 

A  natural  sympathy  with  a  people  struggling  for  independ- 
ence led  a  Senate  committee,  in  1896,  to  investigate  the   475.  Causes, 
conditions  of  Cuba.     Public  feeling  was  aroused  in  Feb-  °     .®h  ^r 
ruary,  1898,  by  the  publication  of  a  private  letter  of  the   (1895-1898) 

hart's   AMUR.    HIST. 33         551 


552  THE   NEW    REPUBLIC 

Spanish  minister  De  Lome,  which  in  translation  seemed  to 
speak  slightingly  of  the  President  and  the  American  govern- 
ment ;  and  De  Lome  was  obliged  to  resign  his  post. 

Demonstrations  against  the  Americans  in  Havana  led  our 
government  to  send  the  battleship  Maine  to  that  city.  On 
the  night  of  February  15,  1898,  the  Maine  was  blown  up  by  an 
explosion,  which  killed  260  of  the  men ;  and  an  American 
naval  board  of  inquiry  later  reported  that  the  ship  was  de- 
stroyed by  a  submarine  mine.  Our  consul-general,  Fitzhugh 
Lee,  said :  "  I  do  not  think  it  was  put  there  by  the  Spanish 
government.  I  think  probably  it  was  an  act  of  four  or  five 
subordinate  officers."  Yet  there  was  a  widespread  feeling  in 
the  United  States  that  the  Spanish  government  was  responsible. 

War  was  so  likely  that  Congress  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  President  $50,000,000  for  national  defense  (March  9, 
1898).  President  McKinley  and  Thomas  B.  Reed,  Speaker  of 
the  House,  were  both  anxious  to  prevent  war;  but  there  was  a 
strong  public  feeling  that  Spain  could  not  keep  order  in  Cuba, 
could  not  subdue  the  insurgents,  and  could  not  protect  Ameri- 
can property  or  even  the  shipping  in  Cuban  harbors.  The 
time  seemed  to  have  come  to  end  the  Spanish  government  in 
the  western  world.  Senator  Proctor  of  Vermont  added  to  the 
flame  by  a  speech  describing  the  horrors  which  he  had  seen  in 
Cuba  (March  17,  1898). 

After   some   months    of   negotiation  with    Spain,  in   which 

guarantees  of  reform   in   Cuba  were  proposed   by   Spain,  but 

476.  Out-       thought   insufficient,    President   McKinley    sent   a   mes- 

SMririf the  sage  t0  ConSress  (APril  n>  1898)>  in  wllich  he  described 
War  (1898).  the  loss  of  property  and  life,  and  said,  "Id  the  name 
Contempo-     0f  humanity,  in  the  name  of  civilization,  in  behalf  of 

retries,  IV.  "  7 

576  endangered  American  interests,  which  give  us  the  right 

and  the  duty  to  speak  and  act,  the  war  in  Cuba  must  stop." 

April  20,  1898,  a  joint  resolution  was  passed  directing  the 

President  to  use  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  United 


THE   SPANISH   WAR   AND   ITS   RESULTS 


553 


SCALE  OF  MILES 

5      Too     ibo 


States   to   compel   Spain   to  leave   Cuba.      To  this   measure 
was  added  the  Teller  resolution:    "That   the   United  States 
hereby  disclaims  any  disposition  or  intention  to  exercise         Congres- 
sovereignty,  jurisdiction,  or  control  over  said  island  ex-  q^Tsot-os 
cept  for  the  pacification  thereof,  and  asserts  its  determi-  p.  4040 

nation,  when  that  is  accomplished,  to  leave  the   government 
and  control  of  the  island  to  its  people." 

On  the  outbreak  of  war,  Commodore  Dewey,  in  command  of 
the  American  vessels  in  the  Pacific,  was  ordered  to  find  and 

fight  the  Spanish  fleet  sta-  477.  Cam- 
tioned  in  the  Philippine  £§?££ 
Islands.    He  had  six  ships  (1893) 

(and  a  dispatch  vessel),  of  which 
the  largest  was  the  cruiser 
Olympia,  of  5870  tons.  The 
Spanish  fleet,  consisting  of  four 
iron  cruisers  and  one  wooden 
one,  besides  auxiliary  vessels, 
was  found  lying  under  the  guns 
of  the  forts  of  Cavite,  in  Manila 
Bay.  May  1,  1898,  Dewey  at- 
tacked :  after  four  hours'  spir- 
ited fight  he  set  the  Spanish 
fleet  on  fire ;  and  that  night  he 
was  able  to  send  home  a  brief 
dispatch  to  the  effect  that  he 
had  destroyed  eleven  vessels  and  the  fort;  that  his  squadron 
was  uninjured,  and  that  a  few  men  were  slightly  wounded. 

Dewey  anchored  off  the  city  of  Manila,  which  for  some  time 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards.  He  brought  with 
him  to  the  island,  Aguinaldo,  a  Philippine  native  of  influence, 
who  had  been  engaged  in  an  insurrection  against  the  Spanish 
power,  and  who  raised  a  Philippine  army  to  besiege  the  city 
on  the  land  side.     Manila  was  attacked  by  sea  and  land  and 


iv-rfT";; 


rs  LANDS 
CELEBES     SEA 


The  Philippines. 


554 


THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 


Admiral  George  Dewey 


eventually  taken  (August  13, 
1898)  by  a  fleet  under  Dewey, 
and  an  American  army  under 
General  Wesley  A.  Merritt.  Al- 
though no  promise  was  ever  made 
to  Aguinaldo  by  Dewey  or  any 
one  else,  he  firmly  expected  that 
he  would  have  the  opportunity  to 
found  a  Philippine  state,  and  his 
troops  remained  in  the  trenches 
before  Manila,  side  by  side  with 
the  Americans. 

Cuba  was  very  soon  blockaded  by  a  fleet  under  the  command 
of  Admiral    Sampson,  but  the  Spaniards  could  be  forced  to 
478   Cam-      ^eave  Cuba  only  by  an  army.     As  the  United  States  had 
paign  in        only  about  26,000  regular  troops,  the  President  called  for 
125,000  volunteers,  and  Congress  authorized  the  increase 
of  the  regular  army  to  63,000 ;  in  a  few  weeks  about  200,000 
men  were  enlisted  in  the  volunteers,  consisting  in  good  part 
of  state  militia  regiments  or  smaller  commands.     The  navy 
was  well  organized ;    but  the  army  was  mostly  not  trained  for 
Alger,  campaigning,  and  the  War  Department  was  not  prepared 

Spanish-  tQ  hancQe,  clothe,  or  feed  so  many  men.  Secretary  of 
War,  455  War  Alger  said,  "  It  is  doubtful  if  any  nation  rated 
as  a  first-class  power 
ever  entered  upon  a 
war  of  offense  in  a 
condition  of  less  mili- 
tary preparation  than 
was  the  United  States 
in  1898." 

Meanwhile  a  second 
Spanish  fleet  of  four 


c   a    r   i  B 

Santiago^ 

JAMAICA 


cruisers  and  three  tor-       Routes  of  Fleets  to  Santiago  de  Cuba. 


THE   SPANISH   WAR  AND   ITS   RESULTS 


555 


pedo  boats  left  Spain  for  Cuba.  Admiral  Schley  with  a  flying 
squadron  was  sent  out  to  look  for  the  Spaniards,  and  with 
some  difficulty  ascertained  that  they  had  slipped  into  the 
harbor  of  Santiago  de  Cuba.  Admiral  Sampson  then  took 
command  and  blockaded  the  port.  A  few  days  later  Lieuten- 
ant Hobson  gallantly  tried  to  block  the  harbor  by  sinking  the 
collier  Merrimac  in  the  channel. 

A  small  force  of  17,000  men  was  brought  together  in  Tampa 
Bay  under  General  Shafter,  and  landed  on  the  south  coast  of 
Cuba,  a  little  east  of  Santiago  (June  22),  whence  it  marched 
up  to  capture  that  city  from  the  Spaniards.  The  army  had  no 
proper  transportation  or  medical  supplies,  and  the  food  was 
poor  and  sometimes  scanty.  No  Cuban  army  could  be  found. 
The  principal  light  was  at  San  Juan  Hill  (July  1,  1898),  in 
which  good  service  was  done  by  the  "Rough  Riders,"  part  of 
Roosevelt's  dismounted  cavalry  regiment. 

On  July  3,  1898,  the  Spanish  fleet  under  Admiral  Cervera 
made  a  dash  out  of  Santiago.  Admiral  Sampson's  flagship, 
New  York,  was  out 
of  range  to  the  east- 
ward, and  Admiral 
Schley  was  next  in 
command.  In  execu- 
tion of  Sampson's 
standing  orders  the 
American  ships 
dashed  at  the  enemy, 
and  in  a  running  fight 
forced  ashore  and  destroyed  all  four  of  the  cruisers  and  two 
torpedo  boats,  with  little  damage  to  any  of  the  American 
ships.  The  credit  for  this  victory  is  due  to  the  vim  and  dash 
of  all  the  officers  and  men  engaged,  and  also  to  the  foresight  of 
Admiral  Sampson,  who  made  preparations  to  receive  just  such 
an  attack.     The  troops  now  pushed  nearer  to  Santiago,  and 


U.  S.  Ship  New  York  in  1898. 


556  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 

that  city  with  its  garrison  surrendered  July  17,  1898.  The 
island  of  Porto  Kico  was  taken  by  17,000  men  under  com- 
mand of  General  Miles,  who  landed  July  25,  on  the  southwest 
coast,  moved  eastward  and  took  the  city  of  Ponce,  and  then 
crossed  the  island  to  San  Juan.  There  was  little  resistance, 
and  the  people  welcomed  the  invaders. 

The  Spaniards  still  had  a  force  of  about  50,000  men  at 
Havana,    and    the    little    American    army    at    Santiago   was 

479  End  of  al1>ea(ty  seized  with  fever.  It  was  not  properly  sup- 
the  war  plied  with  hospital  tents  and  medicines,  and  ten  of  the 
1898)  general  officers  united  in  a  so-called  "round  robin" 
Alger,  addressed  to  General  Shafter,  to  say,  "  This  army  must 
American  be  moved  at  once  or  it  will  perish."  Accordingly  it 
War,  265        was  transported  from  Cuba  to  Long  Island  (August  7). 

Spain  was  evidently  incapable  of  further  resistance,  and  in 
her  behalf  negotiations  were  opened  at  Washington  and  on 
August  12,  1898,  a  "  protocol,"  or  agreement,  was  signed,  under 
which  Spain  was  to  evacuate  Cuba,  and  to  cede  Porto  Rico 
to  the  United  States ;  the  future  of  the  Philippines  to  be 
settled  by  a  later  treaty  of  peace.  The  protocol  came  too  late 
to  stop  hostilities  at  Manila,  for  the  city  surrendered  August 
13,  before  the  news  of  peace  arrived. 

For  the  definite  treaty  of  peace  President  McKinley  ap- 
pointed  a   special    commission.     That   commission   found   its 

480  Treaty  c^e^  *as^  *ne  disposition  of  the  Philippines,  which  were 
of  peace         very  distant  from  the  United  States,  and  had  a  mixed 

population  ranging  from  head-hunting  savages  to  highly 
civilized  Spanish-speaking  gentlemen.  Several  methods  of 
settlement  were  suggested:  (1)  Should  the  United  States 
leave  the  islands  or  a  part  of  them  to  Spain  ?  (2)  Should  an 
independent  government  of  the  natives  receive  control,  as 
Aguinaldo's  large  following  desired?  (3)  Should  the  islands 
be  annexed  outright  to  the  United  States  ? 

The  arguments  for  annexation  were:   (1)  that  they  were  a 


THE   SPANISH   WAR  AND   ITS   RESULTS  557 

rich  and  fertile  region  which  the  United  States  would  be  glad 
to  possess ;  (2)  that  the  war  with  Spain  had  destroyed  the 
government  of  the  Philippines  and  made  it  the  duty  of  the 
United  States  to  give  the  people  a  just  and  orderly  govern- 
ment; (3)  that  the  Philippines  were  so  near  the  coast  of  Asia 
that  they  would  give  the  United  States  a  commanding  position 
and  great  influence  in  the  opening  up  of  trade  with  China  and 
the  interior  of  Asia. 

For  some  time  the  President  hesitated.  Annexation  of  dis- 
tant islands  seemed  a  departure  from  all  the  previous  policy 
of  the  government;  but  both  McKinley  and  his  new  Secre- 
tary of  State,  John  Hay,  agreed  that  it  was  the  course  most 
likely  to  bring  peace  to  the  islands,  and  to  give  the  United 
States  a  position  in  the  Pacific.  The  treaty  of  peace,  signed 
December  10, 1898,  therefore  provided  that  "Spain  relinquishes 
all  claim  of  sovereignty  over  and  title  to  Cuba,"  and  ceded 
outright  Porto  Rico,  the  island  of  Guam  in  the  Ladrones, 
and  all  the  Philippine  Islands.  The  United  States  was  to  pay 
$20,000,000  to  Spain. 

A  treaty  does  not  go  into  effect  until  ratified  by  two  thirds 
of  the  Senate,  and  for  some  time  it  was  doubtful  whether  such 
a  majority  could  be  obtained  for  the  annexation  of  the  Philip- 
pines. Bryan,  as  a  Democratic  leader,  came  to  Washing- 
ton and  used  his  influence  with  Democratic  senators  to  join 
in  making  the  necessary  two-thirds  majority;  the  treaty  was 
ratified  by  the  Senate  February  6,  1899,  and  approved  by  the 
President  February  7,  but  was  not  ratified  by  Spain  till  March 
19,  and  was  not  proclaimed  by  the  President  till  April  14, 1899. 

After  the  capture  of  Manila,  Aguinaldo  still  hoped  for  inde- 
pendence, and  kept  up  his  forces  outside  the  city  of  Manila. 
American  troops  were  sent  to  Uoilo,  on  the  island  of  Panay      481.  Phil- 
( December  24,  1898),  showing  an  intention  to  hold  the         question 
islands  permanently.     The  Philippine  leaders  grew  dis-  (1899-1902) 
contented,  and  their  soldiers  brought  on  a  fight  (February  4, 


558  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 

1899) ;  hence,  on  the  date  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  by 
the  Senate  (February  6),  an  insurrection  was  going  on  against 
the  United  States.  For  two  years  Aguinaldo  kept  together  an 
organized  force,  until  he  was  made  a  prisoner ;  and  the  insur- 
rection continued  in  various  parts  of  the  islands  until  1902. 


Street  Scene  in  Manila,  1900. 

The  treaty  of  1899  declared  that  "  the  civil  rights  and  poli- 
tical status  of  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  territories  hereby 
ceded  to  the  United  States  shall  be  determined  by  the  Con- 
gress." Accordingly  a  modified  form  of  territorial  government 
was  created  for  Porto  Eico  (April,  1900),  in  which  the  majority 
of  the  upper  house  of  the  legislature  is  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent ;  but  the  act  did  not  make  Porto  Eico  part  of  the  United 
States,  like  Hawaii  (§  483).  For  the  temporary  government 
of  the  Philippines  the  President,  on  his  own  responsibility, 
appointed  two  successive  commissions  of  civilians,  and  Congress 
later  authorized  him  to  establish  a  government  at  his  discretion 
(March  2,  1901).  He  continued  the  former  commission  under 
Judge  Taft,  and  it  organized  a  government  for  the  islands,  and 
local  governments  wherever  it  was  safe. 


THE    SPANISH   WAR   AND   ITS   RESULTS  559 

Troubles  at  once  arose  over  the  tariff  in  the  dependencies. 
The  question,  so  far  as  it  concerned  Porto  Rico,  was  settled  by 
the  act  of  April  12,  1900,  providing  a  special  tariff  for  that 
island,  but  allowing  it  speedily  to  come  into  the  regular  tariff 
system  of  the  United  States  — that  is,  to  be  free  from  all 
duties  on  trade  with  the  states.  In  1901  the  Supreme  Court 
supported  this  legislation  by  decisions  in  the  "  Insular  Cases  " 
in  which  the  majority  of  the  court  (5  to  4)  agreed :  (1)  that 
Congress  could  make  a  separate  tariff  for  the  dependencies; 
(2)  that  Porto  Eico  and  the  Philippines  were  not  foreign 
countries;  (3)  that  they  were  also  not  complete  parts  of  the 
United  States,  unless  Congress  should  choose  to  incorporate 
them. 

Acting  on  those  principles,  Congress  made  a  special  tariff  of 
import  duties  in  the  Philippines  (March  8,  1902),  and  fixed 
the  duties  on  imports  from  the  Philippines  into  the  United 
States  at  three  fourths  the  rates  on  similar  imports  from  other 
countries.  By  another  act  (July  1,  1902)  a  bill  of  rights  was 
adopted  which  contained  substantially  the  guarantees  of  per- 
sonal liberty  set  forth  in  the  federal  Constitution,  except  the 
clauses  for  jury  trials  and  for  keeping  and  bearing  arms ;  and 
a  permanent  form  of  government — substantially  that  previously 
framed  by  the  Commission  —  was  created  by  Congress.  Judge 
Taft  was  appointed  civil  governor  under  this  statute,  which 
also  made  provision  for  a  future  Philippine  assembly. 

As  Cuba  was  completely  disorganized  by  the  war,  United 
States  troops  remained  in  the  island.      General  Leonard  Wood 
was   appointed    military    governor,    and   within    a    few     482.  Rela- 
months  the  island  was  restored  to  order;  roads  and  tele-      tions  with 
graphs  were  built,  hundreds  of  schools  were  opened,  and   (1898-1903) 
prosperity  slowly  returned.     What  were  to  be  the  future  rela- 
tions of  the  United  States  to  Cuba  ?     Annexation  was  out  of 
the  question,  in  view  of  the  Teller  resolution  of  1898.     By  the 
"Piatt  Amendment"  (March  2,  1901),  Congress  laid  down  as 


560  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 

bases  for  the  future  government  of  Cuba  the  following  prin- 
ciples :  (1)  Cuba  must  make  no  foreign  agreements  contrary  to 
the  interests  of  the  United  States ;  (2)  Cuba  must  not  incur  a 
debt  that  she  could  not  pay;  (3)  sites  were  to  be  ceded  on 
the  Cuban  coast  for  United  States  naval  stations ;  (4)  Cuban 
ports  must  not  be  allowed  to  be  breeding  places  of  disease. 
A  Cuban  constitutional  convention  agreed  to  these  conditions 
(June  12, 1901),  and  formed  a  republic  of  which  General  Palma 
was  elected  first  president.  The  control  of  the  island  was 
formally  given  up  to  the  new  government  (May  20,  1902),  and 
the  United  States  troops  were  withdrawn.  Next  came  the 
question  of  the  commercial  relations  of  the  two  countries. 
The  Cubans  had  lost  their  former  market  in  Spain,  and  expected 
that  the  United  States  would  make  a  reduction  on  the  regular 
tariff  duties  on  imports  from  Cuba.  As  the  House  paid  no 
attention  to  urgent  messages  from  both  President  McKinley 
and  his  successor,  President  Roosevelt,  a  treaty  was  negotiated 
(1903)  for  a  20  per  cent  reduction  on  regular  import  duties, 
and  was  ratified  by  the  Senate  with  a  proviso  that  it  be  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  very  unusual 
method  of  securing  a  treaty. 

The  interest  of  the  United  States  in  the  Pacific  led  to  several 
other  annexations  of  territory.      The  Hawaiian  Islands  since 
483.  An-        1876  had  enjoyed  a  favorable  commercial  treaty  with  us ; 
th^Pacific      an(*  *n  1893?  with  the  countenance  of   marines  landed 
(1898-1899)   from  a  United  States  ship,  a  party  which  included  most  of 
the  people  of  American  descent  in  the  islands  revolted  from  the 
native  monarchy  and  set  up  a  republic.     President  Cleveland 
would  not  agree  to  annexation,  but  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress 
(July  7,  1898)  soon  brought  the  Hawaiian  Islands  into  the 
United  States,  and  in  1900  they  were  organized  as  a  territory. 
The  United  States,  Great  Britain,  and  Germany  all  had  in- 
terests in  the  Samoa  Islands ;  hence  a  tripartite  treaty  had  been 
agreed  on  (June  14,  1889),  by  which  the  three  powers  admin- 


THE   SPANISH    WAR   AND   ITS   RESULTS 


561 


istered  the  islands  together.  The  natives  tried  to  fight  out 
their  own  quarrels,  and  this  led  to  such  confusion  that  in  1899 
the  three  powers  made  a  division  treaty,  by  which  the  United 
States  took  the  island  of  Tutuila  with  the  harbor  of  Pango- 
Pango,  the  best  in  the  group.  Various  small  islands,  Christ- 
mas, Baker,  Midway,  Wake,  Howland,  and  others,  which  lay 
in  the  mid-Pacific  and  had  never  been  claimed  by  any  other 
power,  were  annexed  by  the  United  States,  as  landing  or 
telegraph  stations. 


The  United  States  and  its  Possessions. 

The  results  of  the  war  of  1898  gave  the  United  States  a  new 
place  in   the  world's  councils.     In  a  conference  held  at  the 
Hague,  in  Holland,  to  discuss  means  of  preventing  wars,     484.  China 
the  influence  of  the  United  States  was  high  among  the       0p3n  door 
twenty-seven  nations  represented,   and  helped  to  bring  (1898-1903) 
about  a  general  treaty  providing  courts  of  arbitration  (1899). 

That  influence  was  also  strong  in  China,  where  France,  Great 
Britain,  Germany,  Japan,  and  Russia  were  all  trying  to  take 
and  keep  Chinese  territory.  The  Chinese  grew  alarmed,  and 
in  1900  a  revolution  of  the  so-called  Boxers  broke  out,  which 


THE   NEW    REPUBLIC 


swept  over  the  northeast  part  of  China,  cost  the  lives  of  several 
hundred  Europeans,  and  ended  in  a  relief  expedition  made  up  of 
detachments  sent  by  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Japan, 
Kussia,  Italy,  and  the  United  States,  which  marched  up  into  the 
country  and  rescued  the  ambassadors  and  others  who  had  been 

besieged    in    Peking 
(August  14,  1900). 

The  European  pow- 
ers wanted  to  take 
territory  from  China, 
but  Secretary  Hay, 
for  the  United  States, 
insisted  that  they 
should  accept  the 
"Open  Door"  policy 
—  that  is,  that  no 
part  of  China  be  cut 
off  from  the  general 
commerce  of  the 
world.  By  consum- 
mate American  diplo- 
macy the  other  pow- 
ers were  brought  to 
accept  the  plan  of  the 
United  States. 


William  McKinley,  in  1894. 


During  this  period,   President   McKinley   came   more   and 
more  to  the  front  as  a  man  of  power.     He  was  born  in  Niles, 
485.  Wil-       Ohio,  in  1843,  served  with  gallantry  in  the  Civil  War, 
and  rose  from  a  private  to  a  major.      In  1877  he  was 
sent  to  Congress,  where  he  grew  in  reputation,  and  in 
1889  was  made  chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee ; 
that  is,  leader  of  his  party  on  the  floor  of  the  House ;  and  to 
him  was  committed  the  task  of  drafting  the  new  tariff  in  1890. 
By  a  "gerrymander"  he  lost  his  seat  in  Congress,  but  in  1891 


liam  McKin- 
ley, Presi- 
dent 


THE   SPANISH   WAR   AND   ITS   RESULTS  563 

he  was  elected  governor  of  Ohio,  and  he  was  the  logical  candi- 
date of  his  party  for  the  presidency  in  1896.  His  intimate 
friend,  Marcus  x\.  Hanna,  came  into  the  Senate  from  Ohio,  and 
was  the  President's  right-hand  man.  McKinley  was  one  of  the 
most  gracious  and  genial  men  who  ever  sat  in  the  White  House, 
and  charmed  almost  everybody  who  met  him. 


Cuba  had  been  misgoverned  for  nearly  four  centuries,  and 
when  the  people  revolted  and  there  seemed  no  end  to  a  cruel 
contest,  the  United  States  restored  peace  by  a  short  war,     436.  Sum- 
in  which  the  losses  of  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides 
were  less  than  6000,  though  the  war  cost  the  United  States  about 
$100,000,000  in  taxes  and  $200,000,000  in  increase  of  debt. 

In  the  process  the  United  States  acquired  the  island  of  Porto 
Pvico,  and  thus  became  for  the  first  time  a  West  Indian  power. 
It  also  took  in  the  group  of  the  Philippine  Islands  with  120,000 
square  miles  and  7,000,000  inhabitants.  The  native  Filipinos 
disliked  the  Spanish  rule,  and  were  no  better  pleased  with 
American  control.  They  revolted,  and  order  was  restored 
slowly  and  at  great  cost  of  life. 

The  war  left  many  troublesome  questions,  such  as  the  tariffs 
between  the  new  dependencies  and  the  main  country,  and  local 
government  for  the  native  peoples.  On  both  these  matters 
the  United  States  adopted  rules  for  the  Porto  Eicans  and 
Filipinos  which  did  not  apply  to  the  states  of  the  Union  or 
to  the  territories. 

Asa  result  of  the  enlarged  interest  in  the  Pacific,  Hawaii 
and  several  small  islands  were  annexed ;  and  the  United  States 
for  the  first  time  took  a  leading  part  in  an  Asiatic  question  by 
insisting  on  a  proper  settlement  of  the  Chinese  difficulty. 
Changes  in  territory,  and  increase  of  area  and  population, 
were  less  significant  than  the  springing  up  of  the  feeling  that 
the  United  States  was  concerned  in  all  that  affected  the  future 
of  the  world. 


5Q4: 


THE   NEW    REPUBLIC 


Suggestive 
topics 


Search 
topics 


TOPICS 

(1)  Why  were  the  Cubans  dissatisfied  with  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment ?     (2)  What  was  the  objection  to  the  reconcentrado  camps  ? 

(3)  Why   was    the    Teller    resolution    of    April,    1898,   passed  ? 

(4)  Why  was  Aguinaldo  brought  to  the  Philippines  ?  (5)  Why 
was  not  the  United  States  better  prepared  for  war  ?  (6)  Why  was 
the  army  in  Cuba  defective  in  transportation  and  medical  supplies  ? 
(7)  Why  did  Santiago  surrender  so  quickly  ?  (8)  Why  did  the 
United  States  pay  $20,000,000  to  Spain  ? 

(9)  Report  of  the  Senate  committee  on  Cuba  in  1896. 
(10)  Destruction  of  the  battleship  Maine.  (11)  Native  govern- 
ment of  Cuba  during  the  insurrection.  (12)  The  siege  of  Manila, 
1898.  (13)  Hobson's  sinking  of  the  Merrimac.  (14)  The  fight  at 
San  Juan  Hill.  (15)  The  Rough  Riders.  (16)  Naval  battle  of 
Santiago.  (17)  The  Schurman  Commission  on  the  Philippines. 
(18)  The  present  government  of  the  Philippine  Islands.  (19)  The 
present  government  of  Cuba.  (20)  Public  services  of  William 
McKinley  previous  to  1896.  (21)  Why  did  President  Cleveland 
oppose  the  annexation  of  Hawaii  ?  (22)  What  right  had  the 
United  States  to  reform  the  government  of  Cuba  ? 


Geography 


Secondary- 
authorities 


Sources 


Illustrative 
works 


Pictures 


REFERENCES 

See  maps,  pp.  553,  554,  561 ;  Semple,  Geographic  Conditions, 
397-435. 

Latane\  America  the  World  Power,  —  United  States  and  Spanish 
America,  174,  175,  214-220  ;  Wilson,  American  People,  V.  269- 
300  ;  Cambridge  Modern  History,  VII.  674-686  ;  Larned,  History 
for  Beady  Reference,  VI.  65,  171,  225,  258,  367,  583  ;  Elson,  Side 
Lights,  II.  352-401  ;  Dewey,  Financial  History,  §§  197-202  ;  Car- 
penter, American  Advance,  288-331  ;  Callahan,  Cuba,  453-497  ; 
Maclay,  United  States  Navy,  III.  39-440  ;  Titherington,  Spanish- 
American  War  ;   Brooks,  War  with  Spain. 

Hart,  Source  Book,  §§  141-145,  —  Contemporaries,  IV.  §§  180- 
196  ;  MacDonald,  Select  Statutes,  nos.  128-131  ;  Old  South  Leaflets, 
no.  114  ;  Hill,  Liberty  Documents,  ch.  xxiv.  ;  Caldwell,  Territorial 
Development,  213-255  ;  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1898-1903. 
See  N.  Eng.  Hist.  Teachers'  Ass'n.,  Historical  Sources,  §  92. 

F.  P.  Dunne,  Mr.  Dooley  in  Peace  and  War,  —  Mr.  Dooley 
in  the  Hearts  of  his  Countrymen  ;  Stephen  Crane,  Wounds  in 
the  Bain. 

Leslie's  Official  Histoid  of  the  Spanish- American  War ;  Harper's 
Weekly ;  Harper's  Pictorial  History  of  the  War  with  Spain ; 
Collie?-'' s   Weekly  ;    Century  ;   Scribner's  ;  McClure's. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 


WHAT  AMERICA    HAS   DONE   FOR   THE    WORLD 

The  history  of  our  beloved  country  can  not  be  understood 
unless  we  think  of  it  as  the  story  of  the   progress  of        487   The 
great  ideals  and  principles.     Having  followed  it  to  the       American 
end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  let  us  now  consider  what 
America  has  accomplished  which  will  be  transmitted  to  pos- 
terity. 

The  United  States  has  taught  the  world  how  to  make  a 
great  modern  nation  out  of  a  variety  of  races  and  peoples. 
According  to  the 
federal  census  of 
1900,  in  the  total 
" continental " 
population  of  76,- 
000,000  people, 
about  10,000,000 
were  born  outside 
this  country,  16,- 
000,000  were  chil- 
dren of  foreign- 
ers, and  9,000,000 

negroes.  Yet  all  the  elements  of  this  enormous  population 
had  a  common  set  of  political  traditions  and  methods,  and, 
with  few  exceptions,  held  themselves  to  be  Americans  and 
devoted  only  to  this  country. 

About  43,000,000  Americans  lived  in  the  valle}^  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  of  the  Great  Lakes.     This  middle  West  has  come  to 

565 


Settled  Area  in  1900. 


566  THE   NEW    REPUBLIC 

have  the  most  people,  the  most  votes,  and  the  most  influence  in 
national  affairs ;  but  the  East  with  its  seaports  and  connection 
with  Europe,  and  the  far  West  with  its  farms,  mines,  and  work- 
shops, are  closely  united.  Even  the  old  sectional  feeling  be- 
tween North  and  South  seems  almost  spent,  and  ope  American 
race  and  spirit  is  developing  throughout  the  broad  land.  The 
mixture  of  races  is  aided  by  the  practice  of  moving  freely  from 
state  to  state.  In  1900  14,000,000  persons  born  within  the 
United  States  were  living  outside  the  state  of  their  birth. 

The  United  States  grew  from  about  400,000  square  miles 
in  1776  to  3,747,000  square  miles  in  1900  by  the  following 

additions  of  territory  to  the  original  thirteen  states :  (1) 
488.  Terri-  J  ,   .      i*  , 

torial  ex-       the  Northwest  Territory,  in  part  conquered  by  General 

pansion  George  Rogers  Clark  in  1778,  in  part  ceded  by  the  treaty 

of  1783 ;  (2)  the  country  south  of  the  Ohio  River,  in  part  pre- 
viously occupied  by  the  Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans,  but 
chiefly  gained  by  clever  diplomacy  in  1782;  (3)  Louisiana,  pur- 
chased from  France  in  1803 ;  (4)  Oregon,  discovered  in  1792, 
explored  in  1805,  occupied  as  wild  territory  in  1811 ;  (5)  West 
Florida,  conquered  in  1810-1814 ;  (6)  East  Florida,  purchased 
in  1819;  (7)  Texas,  annexed  as  a  state  in  1845;  (8)  New 
Mexico  and  California,  conquered  in  1846  and  ceded  by  Mexico 
in  1848;  (9)  the  Gadsden  Purchase,  bought  from  Mexico  in 
1853;  (10)  Alaska,  bought  in  1867;  (11)  the  Hawaiian  Is- 
lands, annexed  by  consent  in  1898;  (12)  Christmas,  Wake, 
Baker,  Howland,  Midway,  and  other  islands,  earlier  discovered 
but  added  as  wild  territory  in  1898 ;  (13)  Porto  Rico,  Guam, 
and  the  Philippines,  conquered  in  1898  ;  (14)  Tutuila  and  some 
other  small  Samoan  islands,  wild  territory  confirmed  as  our  sole 
possession  in  1899. 

These  acquisitions,  most  of  them  brought  in  peacefully,  have 
given  to  the  United  States  a  magnificent  frontage  on  the  Atlan- 
tic, on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  on  the  Great  Lakes,  and  on  the 
Pacific,  with  outlying  island  possessions  and  naval  stations. 


568  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 

The  United  States  in  1900  was  far  the  strongest  force  in 
North  America,  the  leading  power  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
was  on  the  way,  through  its  control  of  a  canal,  to  dominate 
Central  America;  while  from  the  Philippines  she  spoke  with 
authority  on  Asiatic  questions. 

Much  of  the  history  of  the  United  States  is  the  story  of  the 

swift   occupation  of  new  territories.     The  English   colonists 

489  Kecla-    ^ve(^  practically  on  the  seacoast,  but  during  the  Revolu- 

mationof      tion  began  the  long  process  of  clearing  the  wilderness 

just  beyond  the  Appalachian  ranges,  and  then  of  settling 

the  country  farther  west.     In  1787  the  tide  began  to  push  into 

the   Northwest.      In    1800    Indiana    and    western    Kentucky 

were  the  frontier;   in  1810  the  Mississippi  River;  in  1821 

Missouri  was  admitted  into  the  Union;  in  1850  the  extreme 

limits  of  settlement  were  the  Missouri  River  and  the  lower 

Rio  Grande.     Already  population  was  working  backward  from 

the  Pacific  coast,  and  by  1890  there  was  a  continuous   belt 

of  states  across  the  continent. 

The  Indian  tribes  were  pushed  aside  by  this  onset  of  back- 
woodsmen. A  series  of  bloody  wars,  which  made  both  sides 
more  ruthless,  destroyed  the  red  man's  power  before  1880, 
though  the  total  number  of  Indians  has  not  much  diminished. 
As  the  wheatfield  and  cornfield  advanced,  the  forests  fell. 
Swamps  were  drained,  roads  created,  streams  bridged,  houses 
built,  schoolhouses  provided.  Never  has  mankind  seen  such  a 
speedy  and  complete  conquest  of  the  wilderness. 

This  westward  movement  was  in  part  an  application  of  one  of 

the  greatest  lessons  which  America  has  taught  mankind,  the 

490.  Per-       right  of  personal  liberty,  the  right  of  every  man  and 

sonailib-       woman  to  be  free   from  arbitrary  arrests,  from   unfair 

trials,  and   from   unaccustomed   punishments;   and   the 

broader  right  to  move  about,  to  work  where  one  will,  to  go 

from  place  to  place,  and  to  engage  in  the  trade  or  business  for 

which  a  man  or  woman  is  capable. 


WHAT  AMERICA   HAS   DONE    FOR   THE    WORLD       569 

To  four  classes  of  the  American  population  these  rights 
have  not  been  freely  given:  (1)  the  tribal  Indians,  not  settled 
on  separate  lands,  are  treated  as  a  kind  of  big  children; 
(2)  the  Chinese  now  in  the  country  are  subject  to  special 
restriction,  and  no  more  laborers  are  allowed  to  come;  (3) 
Filipinos  are  practically  not  free  to  come  to  the  main  part  of 
the  United  States,  and  in  their  islands  are  treated  much  like 
the  Indians ;  (4)  the  negroes,  for  a  century  and  a  half  held 
in  bondage,  are  still  under  many  practical  and  some  legal 
disabilities. 

The  destruction  of  slavery  was  a  great  triumph  for  human 
freedom ;  for  slavery  was  always  a  denial  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  American  liberty ;  as  Emerson  says,  "  If  you  put 
a  chain  around  the  neck  of  a  slave,  you  bind  the  other  end 
around  yourself."  Slavery  brought  on  the  Civil  War  in  1861, 
and  the  Civil  War  destroyed  slavery. 

America  has  set  for  the  world  an  example  of  toleration  of 
both  political  and  religious  opinions.     A  man  may  speak  his 
mind  on  any  public  question  ;  he  may  call  his  neighbors     491    j  t  , 
together  in  a  public  meeting ;  he  may  publish  his  doc-  lectual 

trines  in  a  newspaper;  he  is  not  subject  to  punishment 
for  any  opinion,  unless  he  urges  his  friends  to  break  the 
laws.  The  United  States  has  enjoyed  the  same  freedom  in 
religion  ;  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world  men 
have  been  free  to  preach  and  practice  any  form  of  religion 
which  does  not  interfere  with  the  morals  or  welfare  of  the 
community. 

Americans  also  have  had  the  freest  opportunity  of  education. 
The  community  provided  public  schools  where  all  children 
might  be  educated  at  the  expense  of  the  state;  though  if  any 
one  preferred  to  pay  for  a  private  tutor  or  private  school, 
secular  or  denominational,  he  might  do  so.  Thus  every  child 
has  had  a  chance  to  make  the  most  of  himself;  and  the  state 
has  found  the  advantage  of  bringing  up  people  who  know 
hart's  amer.  hist. — 34 


570 


THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 


Statue  to  a  Founder  of  Schools, 
James  McDonousrli,  New  Orleans. 


something,  who  can  express 
their  ideas,  and  who  can 
reason.  No  other  country  in 
the  world  has  made  such  a 
provision  of  endowed  and 
public  high  schools,  colleges, 
universities,  and  professional 
schools  of  science,  law,  medi- 
cine, and  other  subjects.  No 
other  country  has  had  so 
many  libraries  or  such  wide- 
spread habits  of  reading. 
Most  of  these  advantages 
can  be  enjoyed  by  women 
on  the  same  terms  as  men, 
and  the  United  States  is  the 
country  which  has  employed 
the  largest  number  of  women  teachers. 

Among  modern  nations,  the  United  States  is  celebrated  for 
its  use  of  labor-saving  machinery  and  devices.  Americans 
492.  Use  of  taught  the  world  how  to  save  farm  labor,  and  American 
machinery  farm  machinery  has  been  used  the  world  over  —  mowers, 
reapers,  and  such  marvels  as  the  thirty-horse  harvester,  which 
goes  through  a  field  of  wheat  and  delivers  the  grain  ready 
thrashed  in  bags. 

Machinery  has  also  been  employed  here  for  manufactures  to 
a  greater  degree  than  anywhere  else.  The  willingness  of  the 
American  workmen  to  accept,  use,  and  even  invent  new  ma- 
chinery is  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  prosperity  of  American 
manufactures.  No  other  nation  has  made  such  elaborate  use  of 
electricity.  Electric  cars  were  first  introduced  into  the  United 
States;  the  telegraph  and  the  telephone  are  American  inven- 
tions; and  the  telephone  has  extended  into  the  farms  to  make 
life  brighter  in  the  remotest  corners  of  the  country.     The  use 


WHAT   AMERICA    HAS   DONE   FOR   THE    WORLD       571 


of  electric  light  is  widely  diffused ;  and  the  water  powers  of  the 
southern  and  the  western  mountains  light  distant  cities. 

To  America  the  world  owes  many  forms  of  commercial 
organization.  Railroad  business  has  been  reTolutionized  by 
American  cheap  steel  and  American  railroad  management.  493 
The  average  trainload  of  freight,  moved  by  one  engineer, 
one  fireman,  one  conductor,  and  a  small  train  crew,  was  in 
1900  two  or  three  times  as  large  in  America  as  in  Europe. 
The  best  passenger  trains  in  the  world  were  run  on  the 
through  routes  in  the  United  States.  If  we  only  had  every- 
where good  stations,  clean,  handsome,  and  large,  we  should 
have  little  to  learn  from  Europe  about  transportation. 

American  trusts,  with  all  their  difficulties  and  dangers,  have 
shown  a  high  degree  of  commercial  skilL  It  is  not  an  easy 
matter  to  induce  a  dozen  large  owners  to  unite  in  one  company 
with  one  general  manager,  but  there  is  sometimes  a  great  saving 
in  the  expenses  of  management  and  of  selling  goods,  in  book- 
keeping and  the  cost  of  manufacture. 


Busi- 
ness organ- 
ization 


Thirty-horse  Harvester,     (Used  on  Pacific  slope.) 


572  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 

Nowhere  in  the  world  has  there  been  such  a  large  area  of 
rich  and  productive  territory  without  any  artificial  barriers 
to  trade  and  intercourse.  From  end  to  end  of  the  United 
States  there  was  in  1900  one  post-office  system,  two  telegraph 
companies,  four  large  express  companies,  one  system  of  cur- 
rency, and  one  general  system  of  transportation  of  through 
freight  and  through  passenger  cars.  Neither  state  nor  federal 
government  could  hinder  free  trade  from  one  state  to  another; 
hence  business  men  and  commercial  travelers  moved  from  one 
end  to  the  other  of  the  land,  looking  for  goods  and  for  cus- 
tomers ;  and  freight  was  cheaply  shipped  wherever  there  was 
a  market. 

For  many  years  the  United  States  was  free  from  the  old 
mediaeval  idea  of  a  guild  controlling  a  whole  trade,  limiting 
494  Free-     tne  number  0I>  apprentices,  and  holding  a  monopoly  of 
dom  of  employment  in  that  trade.    American  boys  and  men  have 

been  allowed  to  choose  their  calling  for  themselves.  The 
American  principle  is  that  a  man  is  free  to  make  his  own 
contracts  with  his  employer,  except  that  laws  may  wisely  limit 
the  hours  of  labor,  regulate  child  labor,  and  compel  the  em- 
ployer to  look  out  for  the  safety  of  his  workmen. 

On  the  other  hand,  for  many  years  the  American  workman 
has  been  free  to  combine  with  his  fellows  in  trades  unions, 
and  to  strike  if  he  feels  like  it.  As  workmen  increase  and 
employers  organize,  it  is  natural  for  the  labor  unions  to  be 
eager  to  enroll  members,  because  their  success  depends  on 
bringing  into  one  society  all  the  men  who  can  do  the  work. 
Hence  they  feel  that  the  nonunion  man  is  acting  against 
them ;  and  in  a  strike  they  go  so  far  as  to  accuse  him  of  steal- 
ing their  jobs,  and  of  taking  the  bread  out  of  their  mouths. 

The  trades  unions  up  to  1900  habitually  made  use  of 
three  devices  which  caused  trouble  in  every  strike:  (1)  they 
"picketed"  the  premises  of  employers,  and  tried  to  persuade 
nonunion  applicants  for  work  to  keep  away  ;  (2)  they  called 


WHAT   AMERICA   HAS   DONE   FOR   THE    WORLD       573 


out  men  in  "sympathetic  strikes"  —  that  is,  strikes  of  men 
who  have  no  grievance  of  their  own,  but  wish  to  bring 
pressure  to  bear  in  aid  of 
their  brethren ;  (3)  the 
"  boycott "  was  freely 
used ;  for  instance,  when 
the  employees  of  a  street 
railway  struck,  the  strik- 
ers often  refused  to  trade 
with  or  consort  with  peo- 
ple who  rode  on  cars 
conducted  by  nonunion 
men.  All  these  methods 
may  be,  and  sometimes 
have  been,  used  to  limit 

the  American  freedom  to      jM  > 

choose  one's  own  employ-    ~     -':'-~ 

ment,  and  to  do  business  A  Monument  to  Labor. 

where  one  will.  DesiSned  b>'  Tilden  ;  San  Frailcisco- 

Americans  have  a  freedom  hardly  known  on  the  continent 
of   Europe,  to  form    societies   for   any  legal   purpose.     Secret 
fraternities,  such  as  the  Masons,  the  Odd  Fellows,  and      495   Free 
the  Knights  of  Pythias,  have  millions  of  members.     The 
churches  are,  from  one  point  of  view,  social  organizations 
for  common  benefits.     There  are  now  many  regular  meetings 
of  business  men,  such  as  the  Bankers'  Association   and  the 
annual  conference  of  manufacturers  of  bolts  and  nuts.     Simi- 
lar meetings  are  held  by  men  of  science  and  learning,  among 
them  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence, the  American  Historical  Association,  and  the  National 
Educational  Association.     Ever  since  the  Avar  patriotic  socie- 
ties have  thriven,  such  as  the   Grand   Army  of  the  Repub- 
lic,  the  Loyal   Legion,  and  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution.      Similar    societies    have   been   organized   in   the 


dom  of 
association 


574  THE   NEW    REPUBLIC 

South,  such  as  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy.  All  these 
organizations,  extending  from  state  to  state,  tend  to  break 
up  local  boundaries,  and  to  make  people  feel  that  they  belong 
to  one  country  and  have  one  purpose. 

Business,  social,  and  labor  organizations  are  all  good,  so  far 
as  they  do  not  prevent  or  dwarf  the  freedom  of  individual 
effort,  which  is  the  touchstone  of  the  wonderful  progress  of 
our  country.  The  one  organization  within  the  United  States 
to  which  everybody  belongs,  which  everybody  ought  to  love 
most,  which  is  supreme  over  every  other  society,  corporation, 
or  union,  which  comes  first,  and  must  be  obeyed  first,  is  the 
country  itself  —  the  "commonwealth,"  as  expressed  through 
the  local  governments,  the  state  governments,  and  the  national 
government  at  Washington. 

Perhaps  the  largest  contribution  that  America  has  made  to 
the  world  is  the  proof,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  that  popular 
496  Popu-     government  is  possible  for  a  nation  of  great  extent,  with 
lar  govern-    a  large  population.      This  success  is  in  part  due  to  some 
of  the  following  peculiarities  of  our  American  form  of 
government :   (1)  The  breadth  of  the  suffrage,  which  is  based 
upon  the  idea  that  if  a  man  has  a  vote  he  will  think  about 
public  affairs;  denial  of  the  right  to  vote,  by  bribery,  force, 
or  fraud,  is  therefore  a  crime  against  civilization.     (2)  Equal 
representation  of  districts  of  equal  population  —  a  plain,  com- 
prehensible method,  which  keeps  people  satisfied.      (3)  Party 
machinery  and  party  politics,  which  help  to  keep  government 
moving,  so  long  as  they  are  not  worshiped  for  themselves. 
(4)  Frequent  elections,   making   it   possible   to  bring   public 
opinion  to  bear  in  a  quick  and  effective  way. 

The   part   of   American  government  which  has   been   most 
497.  Fed-       imitated  by  other  countries  is  our  federal  system,  which 

eral  govern-  has  in  various  ways  shown  itself  both  strong  and  flexi- 
ment  «  , 

ble:  — 

(1)  The  national  government  has  had  a  well-balanced  Con- 


WHAT   AMERICA    HAS   DONE   FOR   THE    WORLD       575 


gress,  the  best  civil  service  in  the  country,  and  judges  and 
courts  of  great  dignity  and  weight. 

(2)  Each  state  has  organized  itself  according  to  its  own  con- 
stitution. In  practice  the  state  governments  are  very  much 
alike,  each  possessing  an  elective  gov- 
ernor, a  legislature  of  two  houses,  and 
judges  (usually  elective),  with  power 
to  declare  statutes  void  because  un- 
constitutional ;  and  the  states  furnish 
a  good  example  of  the  wisdom  of  leav- 
ing local  matters  to  local  authorities, 
which  must  take  the  consequences  of 
their  own  mistakes,  each  for  itself. 

The  cities  have  grown  so  large 
that  they  often  overshadow  the  states 
which  create  them;  at  present  they 
have  little  to  teach  the  world  because 
they  have  not  learned  to  choose  their 
officers  and  carry  on  their  affairs  for 
purely  municipal  purposes ;  they  are 
torn  in  two  by  state  and  national 
party  spirit. 

In  many  ways  the  treatment  of  the 
territories  by  the  United  States  has 
been  admirable;  but  we  had  in  498.  Gov 
1900  many  kinds  of  dependencies,  some  of  which  were 
very  hard  to  manage:  (1)  the  "territories,"  including 
Hawaii,  which  have  had  about  as  good  government  as  the 
neighboring  states ;  (2)  Indian  Territory,  Alaska,  and  the 
small  Pacific  islands,  under  various  kinds  of  paternal  govern- 
ment, directed  from  Washington;  (3)  the  Indian  reserva- 
tions, under  the  special  wardship  of  the  national  government; 

(4)  Porto  Eico,  with  a  special  type  of  territorial  government ; 

(5)  the  Philippine  Islands,  which  have  been  subject  to  special 


Flatiron  Building,  New 
York,  built  in  1902,, 

Height,  286  feet. 


eminent  of 
depend- 
encies 


576  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC 

legislation ;  the  Filipinos  have  not  yet  attained  the  moderate 
self-government  provided  for  Hawaii  and  Porto  Rico. 

These  differences  and  limitations  are  hard  to  reconcile  with 
the  general  principles  of  free  and  equal  popular  government. 
Either  we  must  look  forward  to  granting  all  these  dependent 
people  as  large  a  degree  of  self-government  as  our  organized 
territories,  or  else  we  must  give  up  the  idea  that  "  governments 
derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 


Of  what  advantage  to  us  has  been  our  study  of  American  His- 
tory ?    Does  it  pass  simply  as  a  tale  that  is  told,  or  has  it  a  lesson 
499.  Sum-      which  will  help  Americans  to  lead  happier  lives  and  to  be 

mary:  the      more  llseful  in  their  day  and  generation?     As  we  follow 

meaning  of 

American       the  story  all  the  way  from  our  seafaring  and  sea-fighting 

history  ancestors,  the  most  important  lessons  are  the  three  prin- 

ciples which  the  French  Revolution  tried  to  express  in  the 
republican  motto,  "  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity." 

Equality  in  the  United  States  means  an  equal  privilege  be- 
fore the  law  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child.  It  is  the  just 
boast  of  our  country  that  all  people  who  have  their  own  way 
to  make  enjoy  a  better  chance  here,  in  the  United  States,  than 
anywhere  else  in  the  world. 

Liberty  means  in  the  United  States,  not  the  freedom  to  do 
whatever  one  likes,  but — with  due  respect  to  the  rights  of 
others  —  to  take  part  in  life  as  one  judges  best,  to  think  and 
to  act  for  oneself.  That  is  what  has  made  the  great  inventors, 
educators,  and  statesmen :  they  have  worked  out  their  own 
problems.  Laws  or  customs  must  not  deny  even  to  the  igno- 
rant child  or  man  the  chance  to  do  the  best  that  is  in  him ;  nor 
must  they  tie  the  hands  of  the  quick  and  the  able. 

Fraternity  means  combination;  and  in  the  whole  history  of 
America,  perhaps  the  most  wonderful  thing  is  the  spirit  of 
orderly  union.  The  Pilgrims  on  the  Mayflower  agreed  to  act 
together,  and  to  obey  the  majority ;  the  patriots  of  the  Revo- 


WHAT  AMERICA   HAS   DONE   FOR   THE    WORLD      577 

lution  made  state  and  national  governments,  which  could  pro- 
vide for  the  general  welfare ;  the  Federal  Convention  enlarged 
and  strengthened  the  Union;  the  spirit  of  union  saved  the 
government  from  destruction  by  the  Civil  War,  and  has  brought 
the  two  sections  together  again. 

Liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity  are  all  means  to  one  end 
—  the  supremacy  of  law  and  order  as  the  protector  of  the 
individual.  Perhaps  the  greatest  lesson  of  American  history 
is  that  the  only  safe  and  sure  way  to  bring  about  changes 
and  reforms  is  by  an  appeal  to  the  moral  sense  of  the  nation, 
by  the  long  course  of  political  discussion,  by  ballots  rather 
than  by  bullets.  As  Lincoln  put  it  in  his  first  inaugural: 
«  Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence  in  the  works,  II 
ultimate  future  of  the  people.     Is  there  any  better  or  M 

equal  hope  in  the  world  ?  "  Ours  be  Lowell's  pledge  of  patri- 
otism :  — 


Commemo- 
ration Ode 


O  Beautiful !  my  Country  !  .  .  . 

What  were  our  lives  without  thee  ?  Lowell 

What  all  our  lives  to  save  thee  ? 

We  reck  not  what  we  gave  thee  ; 

We  will  not  dare  to  doubt  thee, 

But  ask  whatever  else,  and  we  will  dare  1 " 


TOPICS 

(1)  Why  do  Americans  move   so   freely  from  state  to  state  ?    Suggestive 


(2)  Why  has  the  United  States  grown  so  rapidly  in  population  ? 
(8)  Why  have  the  Indians  lost  their  importance  ?  (4)  Whence 
came  the  American  ideas  of  personal  liberty  ?  (5)  Whence  came 
the  American  ideas  of  religious  toleration  ?  (6)  Whence  came 
the  American  ideas  of  freedom  of  opinion  and  speech  ?  (7)  Why 
do  American  workmen  accept  new  machinery  ?  (8)  Why  is 
American  railroad  management  superior  to  foreign  ?  (0)  Why 
can  not  a  man  contract  to  make  himself  a  slave  ?  (10)  Why  does 
the  government  come  before  any  religious,  social,  or  business  or- 
ganization in  its  right  to  the  allegiance  of  Americans  ?  (11)  Why 
is  the  suffrage  so  broadly  extended  in  America  ?     (12)   What  are 


topics 


578 


THE    NEW   REPUBLIC 


Search 
topics 


the  good  things  about  party  government?  (13)  What  are  the 
defects  of  party  government?  (14)  Why  is  city  government 
harder  to  carry  on  well  than  state  or  national  government  ? 

(16)  How  many  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  of  Eng- 
lish, Scotch,  or  Welsh  descent  ?  (16)  Number  of  children  edu- 
cated in  private  schools.  (17)  Number  of  children  educated  in 
church  schools.  (18)  Picketing  in  strikes.  (19)  Sympathetic 
strikes.  (20)  Use  of  the  boycott  by  workmen.  (21)  Use  of  the 
black  list  by  employers.  (22)  Limitations  on  the  right  of  free 
speech.     (23)  What  limitations  are  there  on  the  suffrage  ? 


REFERENCES 


Geography- 
Secondary 
authorities 


Sources 


See  maps,  pp.  561,  567. 

C.  1).  Wright,  Practical  Sociology  ;  James  Bryce,  American 
Commonwealth  ;  Alexander  Johnston,  American  Politics  ;  A.  B. 
Hart,  Actual  Government ;  Emlin  McClain,  Constitutional  Law  ; 
F.  A.  Cleveland,  Growth  of  Democracy  ;  F.  J.  Goodnow,  Politics 
and  Administration ;  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  American  Government ; 
R.  L.  Ashley,  American  Federal  State. 

Herbert,  Why  the  Solid  South;  Riis,  Children  of  the  Poor,— 
How  the  Other  Half  Lives ;  Booker  Washington,  Up  from  Slavery. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 


THE   TWENTIETH   CENTURY 


At  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  the  President  of 

the  United  States  was  William  McKinley,  who  was  reelected 

in    1900    over     _AA  _     . 
500.  Presi- 

Bryan,  by  an  dentRoose- 
electoral  vote 
of  292  to  155,  and 
began  his  second 
term  with  a  prestige 
and  influence  which 
no  President  had 
enjoyed  for  many 
years ;  but  he  was 
shot  by  an  obscure 
assassin  and  died 
September  14,  1901, 
lamented  by  all  his 
countrymen.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Vice- 
President  Eoosevelt. 
Theodore  Roose- 
velt was  born  in 
New  York  in  1858, 
of  Dutch  descent.  He  graduated  from  Harvard  College  in 
1880,  and  entered  politics  in  the  New  York  legislature  in  1883, 
where  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  fighter  for  cheaper  fares 
on  the  New  York  elevated  roads.     Then  he  raised  cattle  in 

679 


Hk 

■4  /         ■  ..jHBLH  Mr 

• 

Ifc,  ^ 

jak^  -__! 

Copyright,  1898,  by  Pack  Bros.,  N.T. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  in  1903. 


580  the:  new  republic 

North  Dakota,  and  wrote  books  on  open-air  life  and  American 
history.  From  1889  to  1895  he  was  the  leading  spirit  of  the 
National  Civil  Service  Commission.  In  1897-1898  he  was 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  but  entered  the  army,  and 
was  one  of  the  few  men  who  in  the  Spanish  War  attracted 
popular  attention  by  military  services  on  land.  His  reputation 
in  the  war  practically  made  him  governor  of  New  York  (1899), 
and  Vice  President  (1901).  Roosevelt's  distinguishing  quali- 
ties have  been  the  courage  to  hold  and  express  an  opinion,  a 
quick  resolution  and  firmness  of  decision,  and  uncommon  open- 
ness and  directness. 

As  President,  Roosevelt  had  an  opportunity  to  improve  the 
civil   service.     84,000  persons  were  already  in  the    classified 

service,  open  to  competitive  examination.     In  1904,  out 
501.   Inter-  ill 

nal  affairs  of  271,000  persons  in  the  civil  service,  148,000  were 
(1901-1904)  ciassifiecl  or  subject  to  examination;  7000  were  subject 
to  confirmation  by  the  Senate,  and  85,000  were  country  post- 
masters and  clerks.  President  Roosevelt  improved  the  consular 
service  and  practiced  a  system  of  promoting  good  diplomats 
from  one  post  to  another.  In  the  southern  states  he  followed 
the  practice  of  forty  years  by  nominating  some  colored  men  to 
office.  To  an  outburst  of  denunciation  from  the  South,  he 
replied  in  a  public  letter  that  he  would  not  "  shut  the  door  of 
opportunity  "  on  the  members  of  the  negro  race. 

In  1902  a  desperate  strike  of  the  anthracite  coal  miners  of 
Pennsylvania  threatened  to  leave  the  eastern  states  without 
necessary  fuel :  President  Roosevelt  came  forward  as  a  medi- 
ator, and  by  consent  of  both  sides  appointed  a  commission 
which  settled  the  strike.  He  was  much  aroused  on  the 
subject  of  trusts  and  monopolies,  and  through  the  attorney- 
general  brought  suit  under  the  act  of  1890  (§  462)  to  prevent 
the  "merger,"  or  consolidation,  of  the  Great  Northern, 
Northern  Pacific,  and  Chicago,  Burlington,  and  Quincy  rail- 
roads ;  and  the  Supreme  Court  in  1904  held  that  the  merger 


THE   TWENTIETH   CENTURY 


581 


was  illegal.  A  more  stringent  anti-trust  act  was  passed  in 
1903,  under  which  the  government  may  require  corporations 
which  do  an  interstate  business  to  submit  their  accounts  to 
the  government;  for  half  the  evils  of  trusts  and  combinations 
can  be  prevented  if  the  trusts  can  be  made  to  tell  the  public 
what  they  are  doing.  Toward  the  Philippines  and  Cuba 
Roosevelt  favored  a  liberal  commercial  policy ;  and  he  visited 
with  his  severe  official  displeasure  a  few  officers  convicted  of 
torturing  or  otherwise  abusing  the  Filipinos. 


SCALE 
6  100         200        3<5o        400 

Panama  Canal  from  Colon 

to  Panama 

--  —  Nicaragua  Route 


The  Ciiikf  Isthmian  Canal  Routes. 


In  1898  the  battleship  Oregon  was  compelled  to  steam  fifteen 
thousand  miles  from  San  Francisco  to  join  Sampson's  fleet  in 
the  West  Indies  ;  and  this  incident  again  called  attention        502.  The 
to  the  need  of  an  isthmian  canal.     The  breakdown  of  the        "^JS 
Panama  Company  (§  451)  did  not  leave  the  field  entirely  (1899-1903) 
free,  for  the  company  still  owned  the  land  and  the  right  to 
finish  the  canal;  but  it  convinced  the  people  of  the  United 
States  that  the  only  way  to  get  a  canal  was  for  the  United  States 


582  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC 

to  build  it.  The  Nicaragua  Canal  Company  asked  Congress  to 
take  their  route  off  their  hands.  As  a  basis  for  intelligent 
action,  Congress  in  1899  authorized  a  special  commission  of 
experts,  which  reported  (1900)  in  favor  of  the  Nicaragua  route, 
because  they  had  been  unable  to  come  to  satisfactory  terms  with 
the  French  Panama  Company  for  its  holdings  on  that  route. 

Since  the  British  government  and  people  during  the  Span- 
ish War  showed  the  warmest  sympathy  with  the  United  States, 
and  a  desire  to  remove  all  causes  of  friction  between  the  two 
English-speaking  countries,  this  seemed  a  favorable  moment 
for  disposing  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty.  By  the  Hay- 
Pauncefote  treaty  (November  18,  1901),  Great  Britain  gave 
up  fully  all  claims  to  any  share  in  the  construction  or  control 
of  a  canal  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  The  United  States 
was  at  last  free  to  construct  a  canal,  and  public  sentiment 
demanded  action.  The  French  company  offered  to  sell  its 
property  and  its  rights  for  $40,000,000,  and  Congress  passed 
an  act  (June  28, 1902)  authorizing  the  President  to  accept  those 
terms  and  to  complete  the  canal  at  Panama;  but  if  he  could 
not  secure  control  of  the  necessary  land  strip  from  Colombia 
"within  a  reasonable  time  and  upon  reasonable  terms,"  he  was 
to  construct  the  canal  on  the  Nicaragua  route.  He  therefore  ne- 
gotiated a  treaty  drawn  by  a  representative  of  Colombia  which 
would  have  given  the  United  States  sufficient  control  over  the 
line  of  the  canal ;  but  Colombia  refused  to  ratify  it  (September 
14,  1903).  A  few  weeks  later  an  insurrection  broke  out  in 
Panama,  a  new  republic  was  set  up,  November  3,  1903,  and 
was  recognized  by  the  United  States,  November  0;  and  on 
February  23,  1904,  a  treaty  with  Panama  was  ratified  for  the 
construction  of  the  canal. 

After  the  adjustment  of  the  government  of  the  Philippine 

503.  Elec-     Islands   under  Governor  William  H.  Taft  in  1903,  and 

^9 04°  the   settlement  of  the  Isthmus   question    in    1904,  both 

political  parties  bent  their  energies  to  the  approaching  presi- 


THE   TWENTIETH   CENTURY  583 

dential  election.  The  sudden  death  of  Senator  Marcus  A. 
Hanna,  the  intimate  friend  of  President  McKinley,  removed 
one  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  Republican  party.  President 
Roosevelt  from  the  first  seemed  likely  to  be  renominated,  and 
when  the  Republican  convention  met  in  Chicago  in  June,  1904, 
he  was  unanimously  renominated,  and  with  him  Senator  Fair- 
banks of  Indiana  was  put  on  the  ticket  for  Vice  President.  The 
platform  of  the  party  declared  for  protection,  called  attention  to 
recent  acts  passed  by  a  Republican  Congress  for  the  regulation 
of  corporations,  and  promised  "new  laws  insuring  reasonable 
publicity  "  of  the  transactions  of  corporations. 

The  Democratic  convention,  held  at  St.  Louis  in  July,  1904, 
declared  against  executive  usurpation,  exploitation  of  the 
colonies,  and  tariffs  favorable  to  trusts  and  special  interests ; 
and  also  pronounced  in  favor  of  an  isthmian  canal.  Nothing 
was  said  on  the  platform  as  to  the  currency,  but  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate  for  the  presidency,  Judge  Alton  B.  Parker 
of  New  York,  before  the  convention  adjourned,  telegraphed 
his  firm  adherence  to  the  gold  standard. 

The  campaign  turned  principally  upon  the  record  of  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  and  the  principles  announced  in  several  speeches 
by  Judge  Parker  ;  the  main  issues  being  imperialism,  the  tariff, 
and  the  relations  of  the  two  great  parties  to  the  trusts.  In 
the  election  in  November,  Judge  Parker  carried  the  "Solid 
South  "  except  Missouri  and  one  elector  in  Maryland.  Roose- 
velt carried  all  the  other  states  in  the  Union,  and  had  006 
electoral  votes  to  140  for  Judge  Parker,  on  a  popular  plurality 
of  about  2,500,000  votes.  The  Socialist  candidate,  Eugene  Y. 
Debs,  received  402,000  votes;  the  People's  party  candidate, 
Thomas  E.  Watson,  had  118,000  votes;  and  the  Prohibition 
candidate,  Silas  Swallow,  had  259,000  votes. 


APPENDIX   A 


BRIEF   LIST   OF   BOOKS 

(These  books,  costing  about  $25,  are  well  adapted  for  constant  use  on 
the  teacher's  desk.) 

I.  Methods  and  Materials 

American  Historical  Association,  Committee  of  Seven,  The  Study  of 

History  in  Schools.     (N.Y.     Macmillan.     1809.     .$0.50.) 
New   England   History   Teachers'  Association,  Historical   Sources  in 

Schools.     (N.Y.     Macmillan.     1902.     $0.00.) 
New  England  History  Teachers'  Association,  A  History  Syllabus  for 

Secondary  Schools.     (Bost.     Heath.     1904.     $1.20.)     Part  IV.,  on 

American  History,  sold  separately,  $0.15. 
Channing,  E.,  and  Hart,  A.  B.,  Guide  to  the  Study  of  American  History. 

(Bost.     Ginn.     1896.     $2.00.) 

Also  one  of  the  two  following  books  : 

(1)  Bourne,  H.  E.,  The  Teaching  of  History  and  Civics  in  the  Elemen- 
tary and  the  Secondary  School.     (N.Y.     Longmans.     1902.     $1.50.) 

(2)  Hinsdale,  B.  A.,  How  to  Study  and  Teach  History,  with  Particular 
Reference  to  the  History  of  the  United  States.  (International  Educa- 
tion Series,     llev.  ed.     N.Y.    Appleton.     1902.     $1.50.) 

II.  Collections  of  Sources 

Hart,  A.  B.,  ed.,  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries.  (4  vols. 
N.Y.     Macmillan.     1897-1901.     $8.00.) 

Also  one  of  the  two  following  combinations  of  volumes  : 

C  Caldwell,  H.  V.,  Survey  of  American  History.     (Chic.     Ains- 
worth.     1900.     $1.10.) 
Hart,  A.   B.,  ed.,  Source-Book  of  American  History.     (N.Y. 
Macmillan.     1900.     $0.00.) 

(1)  \  Hart,  A.  B.,  and  Channing,  Edward,  eds.,  American  History  Leaf- 
lets.    (33Nos.  pub.    N.Y.    Simmons.    1892-        .    $0.10  each.) 

Hill,  Mabel,  ed.,  Liberty  Documents,  with  Contemporary  Exposi- 
tion and  Critical  Comments  drawn  from  Various  Writers. 
i       (N.Y.     Longmans.     1901.     $2.00.) 

William  MacDonald,  ed.,  Select  Documents  Illustrative  of  the 
History  of  the  United  States,  1776-1861.  (N.Y.  Macmillan. 
1898.     $2.25.) 

William  MacDonald,  ed.,  Select  Charters  and  other  Documents 

(2)  -j      Illustrative  of  American  History,  1606-1775.     (N.Y.     Mac- 
millan.    1899.     $2.00.) 

William  MacDonald,  ed.,  Select  Statutes  and  other  Documents 
Illustrative  of  the  History  of  the   United  States,  1861-1898. 
(N.Y.     Macmillan.     1903.     $2.00.) 
i 


11  APPENDIX   A 

III.  Colonial  Period 

One  of  the  three  following  books : 

(1)  Fisher,  G.  P.,  The  Colonial  Era.    (American  History  Series.    N.Y. 
Scribner.     1892.     $1  00.) 

(2)  Lodge,  H.  C,  A  Short  History  of  the  English  Colonies  in  America. 
(N.Y.     Harper.     1881.     $3.00.) 

(3)  Thwaites,  R.  G.,  The  Colonies,  1492-1750.     (Epochs  of  American 
History.     Rev.  ed.     N.Y.     Longmans.     1897.     $1.25.) 

IV.  Revolutionary  and  Constitutional  Period 

One  of  the  two  following  books  : 

(1)  Channing,  Edward,    The    United   States  of  America,   1765-1865. 
(N.Y.     Macmillan.     1897.     $1.50.) 

(2)  Stan  wood,  Edward,  A  History  of  the  Presidency.     (Bost.     Hough- 
ton.    1898.     $2.50.) 

One  of  the  two  following  combinations  of  volumes  : 

Hart,   A.    B.,   Formation   of  the    Union,    1750-1829.     (Epochs 
of  American   History.      Rev.   ed.      N.Y.      Longmans.      1897. 
$1.25.) 
Wilson,  Woodrow,  Division  and  Reunion,  1829-1889.     (Epochs 
of    American    History.      Rev.    ed.      N.Y.      Longmans.     1898. 
$1.25.) 
f  Sloane,  W.  M.,  The  French  War  and  the  Revolution.    (American 
History  Series.     N.Y.     Scribner.     1893.     $1.00.) 
Walker,  F.  A.,  The  Making  of  the  Nation,  1783-1817.     (Ameri- 
can History  Series.     N.Y.     Scribner.     1895.     $1.00.) 
|  Johnston,  Alexander,  History  of  American  Politics.     (4th  ed. 
[      rev.  by  W.  M.  Sloane.     N.Y.     Holt.     1898.     $0.80.) 


0) 


(2)    \ 


V.    Civil  War  and  Subsequent  Period 
Dodge,  T.  A.,  A  Bird's-eye  View  of  our  Civil  War.     (Rev.  ed.     Bost. 

Houghton.     1897.     $1.25.) 
Morse,  John  T.,  Abraham  Lincoln.     (2  vols.     American   Statesmen 

Series.     Rev.  ed.     Bost.     Houghton.     1900.     $2.50.) 

One  of  the  three  following  volumes  : 

(1)  Hart,  A.  B.,  Actual  Government  as  applied  under  American  Condi- 
tions.    (N.Y.     Longmans.     1903.     $2.00.) 

(2)  Ashley,  R.  L.,  The  American  Federal  State.     (N.Y.     Macmillan. 
1902.     $2.00.) 

(3)  Bryce,   James,    The   American    Commonwealth.      (Abridged   ed. 
N.Y.     Macmillan.     189G.     $1.75.) 


APPENDIX  B 
GENERAL   BIBLIOGRAPHY 

(Titles  marked  with  an  asterisk  denote  books  especially  desirable  for  a  school 
library,  besides  those  mentioned  in  the  Brief  List.) 

Adams,  C.  F.,  Charles  Francis  Adams  (Amer.  Statesmen).    Bost.    1900. 
Adams,  C.  F.,  Three  Episodes  of  Massachusetts  History.    2  vols.     Bost. 
1892. 

*  Adams,  Henry,  History  of  the  United  States  during  the  Administrations 

of  Jefferson  and  Madison.     9  vols.     N.Y.     1889-1891. 
Adams,  Henry,  John  Randolph  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 
Allen,  Walter,  Ulysses  S.  Grant  (Riverside).     Bost.     1901. 

*  American  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1861-1875.     15  vols.     N.Y.     1862-1876. 
Ames,  H.   V.,   ed.,  State  Documents  on  Federal  Relations.    Nos.   1-4. 

Phil.     1900-1902. 
Ammen,  Daniel,  The  Atlantic  Coast  (Navy  in  Civil  War).     N.Y.     1883. 
Andrews,  C.  M.,  Colonial  Self- Government  (Amer.  Nation).    N.Y.    1904. 
Appletons'  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1876-.     N.Y.     1877-. 
Arber,  Edward,  ed.,  Story  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.     Lond.     1897. 
Babcock,  K.  C,  Rise  of  American  Nationality  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 
Bancroft,  Frederic,  William  H.  Seward.     2  vols.     N.Y.     1900. 
Bancroft,  George,  History  of  the  Formation  of  the  Constitution.     2  vols. 

N.Y.     1882. 
Bancroft,  George,  History  of  the  United  States.     Bost.     10  vols.     1834- 

1874. 
Barnes,  James,  David  G.  Farragut  (Beacon).     Bost.     1899. 
Bassett,  J.  E.,  Federalist  System  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 

*  Bigelow,  John,  Samuel  J.  Tilden.     2  vols.     N.Y.     1895. 
Birney,  William,  James  G.  Birney.     N.Y.     1890. 

Botume,  E.  H.,  First  Days  amongst  the  Contrabands.     Bost.     1893. 

Bourinot,  J.  G.,  Story  of  Canada.     N.Y.     1896. 

Bourne,  E.  G.,  Spain  in  America  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y.     1904. 

Bowne,  E.  S.,  A  GirVs  Life  Eighty  Years  Ago.     N.Y.     1887. 

Brady,  C.  T.,  Stephen  Decatur  (Beacon).     Bost.  1900. 

*Brigham,  A.   P.,  Geographic  Influences  in  American   History.     Bost. 

1903. 
Brooks,  E.  S.,  Story  of  our  War  with  Spain.     Bost.     1899. 
Brooks,  Noah,  Short  Studies  in  Party  Politics.     N.Y.     1895. 

*  Brooks,  Noah,  Washington  in  Lincoln's  Time.     N.Y.     1895. 

*  Brown,  W.  G.,  Andrew  Jackson  (Riverside).     Bost.     1900. 
Brown,  W.  G.,  The  Lower  South  in  American  History.     N.Y.     1902. 
Brown,  W.  G.,  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas  (Riverside).     Bost.     1902. 
Browne,  W.  H.,  George  Calvert  and  Cecilius  Calvert  (Makers  of  Amer.), 

N.Y.     1890. 

*  Bruce,  Henry,  General  Houston  (Makers  of  Amer.).     N.Y.     1891. 
Bruce,  Henry,'  General  Oglethorpe  (Makers  of  Amer.).    N.Y.     1890. 

iii 


IV  APPENDIX   B 

Bruce,  P.  A.,  Economic  history  of  Virginia.     2  vols.     N.Y.     1896. 

*  Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History  of  the  United  States.     5  vols.     N  Y 

1878-1898. 
Burton,  Richard,  John  Greenleaf  Whittier  (Beacon).     Bost.     1901. 

*  Cable,  G.  W.,  Creoles  of  Louisiana.     N.Y.     1884. 
Cable,  G.  W.,  Negro  Question.     N.Y.     1890. 
Cairnes,  J.  E.,  Slave  Power.    N.Y.     1862. 

Caldwell,  H.  W.,  ed.,  American  Territorial  Development.      Chic.     1900. 
Caldwell,  H.  W.,  ed.,  Great  American  Legislators.     Chic.     1900. 
Caldwell,  H.  W.,  ed.,  Survey  of  American  History.     Chic.     1900. 
Callahan,  J.  M.,  Cuba  and  International  Relations.     Bait.     1899. 

*  Cambridge  Modern  History.      (Vol.  VII.     The  United  States.)     NY 

1903. 
Carpenter,  E.  J.,  American  Advance.     N.Y.     1903. 

*  Carpenter,  F.  B.,  Six  Months  at  the  White  House.     N.Y.     1866. 
Century  Co.,  Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War.    4  vols.    NY     1888- 

1889. 
♦Chad  wick,  F.  E.,  Causes  of  the  Civil  War  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 
Chamberlain,  N.  H.,  Samuel  Sewall.     Bost,     1897. 
Chamberlin,  J.  E.,  John  Brown  (Beacon).     Bost.     1899. 
*Channing,  Edward,  Jeffersonian  System  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 
♦Channing,  Edward,    Town   and    County   Government  in  the  English 

Colonies.    Bait.     1884. 
Chesnutt,  C.  W.,  Frederick  Douglass  (Beacon).     Bost.     1899. 
Cheyney,  E.  P.,  European  Background  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y.     1901 
Cist,  H.  M.,  Army  of  the  Cumberland  (Campaigns  of  Civil  War).     N.  Y. 

1882. 
Colby,   C.  W.,  ed.,    Selections  from  the   Sources  of  English  History. 

Lond.     1899. 
Conant,  C.  A.,  Alexander  Hamilton  (Riverside).     Bost.     1901. 
Coppee,  Henry,  General  Thomas  (Great  Commanders).     N.Y.     1893. 
Cox,  J.  D.,  Atlanta  (Campaigns  of  Civil  War).     N.Y.     1882. 
Cox,  J.  D.,  March  to  the  Sea  (Campaigns  of  Civil  War).     N.Y.     1882. 
♦Curtis,  G.  T.,  Constitutional   History  of  the  United  States.     2  vols. 

N.Y.     1889-1896. 
*Dana,  C.  A.,  Recollections  of  the  Civil  War.    N.Y.     1898. 
Dana,  R.  H.,  Jr.,  Two  Years  before  the  Mast.     Various  eds. 
Davies,  H.  E.,  General  Sheridan  (Great  Commanders).    N.Y.     1895. 
Dawes,  A.  L.,  Charles  Sumner  (Makers  of  Amer.).     N.Y.     1892. 
♦Dewey,  D.  R.,  Financial  History  of  the  United  States  (Amer.  Citizen). 

N.Y.     1903. 
Doubleday,  Abner,  Chancellorsville  and  Gettysburg  (Campaigns  of  Civil 

War).     N.Y.     1882. 
Douglass,  Frederick,  Life  and  Times.     Rev.  ed.     Bost.     1893. 
♦Doyle,  J.  A.,  English  Colonies  in  America.    3  vols.  pub.    N.Y.     1889. 
Du  Bose,  J.  W.,  Life  of  William  Lowndes  Yancey.     Birm.,  Ala.     1892. 
♦Dunning,  W.  A.,  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction.     N.Y.     1898. 
Dunning,  W.  A.,  Reconstruction  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 


GENERAL    BIBLIOGRAPHY  V 

Eggleston  and  Seelye,  Tecumseh  and  the  Shawnee  Prophet.     N.Y.    1878. 
*Eggleston,  Edward,  Beginners  of  a  Nation.     N.Y.     1890. 

*  Eggleston,  Edward,  Transit  of  Civilization.     N.Y.     1901. 
Eggleston,  G.  C,  American  War  Ballads.     2  vols.     N.Y.     1889. 

*  Eggleston,  G.  C,  A  Rebel's  Recollections.     N.Y.     1878. 
Elliott,  S.  B.,  Sam  Houston  (Beacon).     Bost.     1900. 

Elson,  H.  W.,  Side  Lights  on  American  History.    2  vols.    N.Y.    1899-1900. 
Farrand,  L.,  Basis  of  American,  History  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y.     1904. 
Fiske,  John,  American  Revolution.     2  vols.    Bost.     1891. 

*  Fiske,  John,  Beginnings  of  New  England.     Bost.     1889. 

*  Fiske,  John,  Critical  Period  of  American  History.     Bost.     1888. 

*  Fiske,  John,  Discovery  of  America.     2  vols.    Bost.     1892. 

*  Fiske,  John,  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies.     2  vols.    Bost.     1899. 
Fiske,  John,  Mississippi  Valley  in  the  Civil  War.    Bost.     1900. 
Fiske,  John,  New  France  and  New  England.     Bost.     1902. 

*  Fiske,  John,  Old  Virginia  and  her  Neighbours.     2  vols.    Bost.     1897. 
Fithian,  P.  V.,  Journal  and  Letters,  1767-1774-     Princeton,  1900. 
Force,  M.  F.,  From  Fort  Henry  to  Corinth  (Campaigns  of  Civil  War). 

N.Y.     1881. 
Force,  M.  F.,  General  Sherman  (Great  Commanders).     N.Y.     1899. 
Ford,  P.  L.,  The  Many-sided  Franklin.     N.Y.     1899. 

*  Ford,  P.  L.,  The  True  George  Washington.     Phil.     1902. 
Ford,  W.  C,  National  Problems  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 
Foster,  J.  W.,  American  Diplomacy  in  the  Orient.     Bost.     1903. 

*  Foster,  J.  W.,  Century  of  American  Diplomacy.    Bost.     1900. 

*  Frothingham,  R.,  Pise  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States.    Bost.    1872. 
Garrison,  G.  P.,  Texas  (Amer.  Commonwealths).     Bost.     1903. 
Garrison,  G.  P.,  Westward  Extension  (Amer.  Nation).    N.Y. 

Gay,  S.  H.,  James  Madison  (Amer.  Statesmen).    Bost.     1900. 
Gilman,  D.  C,  James  Monroe  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 
Gordy,  J.  P.,  History  of  Political  Parties  in  the  United  States,    2  vols. 

pub.     N.Y.     1900-1902. 
Goss,  W.  L.,  Recollections  of  a  Private.    N.Y.     1891. 
Gould,  A.  B.,  Louis  Agassiz  (Beacon).     Bost.     1901. 
Grant,  Anne,  Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady.     Albany.     1876. 

*  Grant,  U.  S.,  Personal  Memoirs.     2  vols.     N.Y.     1885-1886. 
Graydon,  Alexander,  Memoirs  of  a  Life  chiefly  passed  in  Pennsylvania. 

Harrisburg.     1811. 
Greene,  E.  B.,  Provincial  America  (Amer.  Nation).    N.Y.     1905. 
Greene,  F.  V.,  General  Greene  (Great  Commanders).    N.Y.     1893. 
Greene,  F.  V.,  The  Mississippi  (Campaigns  of  Civil  War).     N.Y.     1882. 

*  Greene,  G.W.,  Historical  View  of  the  American  Revolution.    Bost.  .1865. 
Griffis,  W.  E.,  Sir  William  Johnson  (Makers  of  Amer.).     N.Y.     1891. 
Hale,  E.  E.,  Jr.,  James  Russell  Lowell  (Beacon).     Bost.     1899. 
Hapgood,  Hutchins,  Paul  Jones  (Riverside).     Bost.     1901. 

Hapgood,  Norman,  Abraham  Lincoln.     N.Y.     1899. 

Hapgood,  Norman,  Daniel  Webster  (Beacon).     Bost.     1899. 

*Hart,  A.  B.,  Foundations  of  American  Foreign  Policy.    N.Y.     1901. 


VI  APPENDIX   B 

Hart,  A.  B.,  Practical  Essays  on  American  Government.     N.Y.     1893. 
Hart,  A.  B.,  Salmon  Portland  Chase  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 
Hart,  A.  B.,  Slavery  and  Abolition  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 
*Hart,  A.  B.,  ed.,  Source  Readers  in  American  History.    4  vols     N  Y 

1902-1908. 
*Hart,  A.   B.,  ed.,    The  American   Nation;   a   History  from    Original 

Sources  by  Associated  Scholars.     28  vols.     N.Y.     1904-.     Volumes 

sold  separately,  and  mentioned  in  this  book  by  the  names  of  the 

authors. 
Helper,  H.  R.,  Impending  Crisis.    N.Y.     1857. 
Herbert,  H.  A.,  Why  the  Solid  South  ?    Bait.     1890. 
Higginson,  T.  W.,  Army  Life  in  a  Black  Regiment.   New  ed.   Bost.    1882. 
Higginson,  T.  W.,  Book  of  American  Explorers.    Bost.     1877. 
Higginson,  T.  YV.,  Francis  Higginson  (Makers  of  Amer.).     N.Y.     1891. 

*  Higginson,  T.  YV.,  Larger  History  of  the  United  States.    N.Y.     1886.  ' 
Hinsdale,  B.  A.,  Old  Northwest.     N.Y.     1888. 

Hodges,  George,  William  Penn  (Riverside).     Bost.     1901. 

Hollis,  I.  N.,  The  Frigate  "  Constitution."     Bost.     1900. 

Hoist,  Hermann  von,  John  C.  Calhoun  (Amer.  Statesmen).    Bost.    1900. 

Hosmer,  J.  K.,  Appeal  to  Arms  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 

Hosmer,  J.  K.,  Louisiana  Purchase.     N.Y.     1902. 

Hosmer,  J.  K.,  Mississippi  Valley.     Bost.     1901. 

Hosmer,  J.  K.,  Outcome  of  the  Civil  War  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 

Hosmer,  J.  K.,  Samuel  Adams  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 

Hosmer,  J.  K.,  Thomas  Hutchinson.     Bost.     1896. 

*  Houston,  D.  F.,  Nullification  in  South  Carolina.     N.Y".     1896. 
Hovey,  Carl,  Stonewall  Jackson  (Beacon).     Bost.     1900. 

Howard,  G.Y,.,  Preliminaries  of  the  Revolution  (Amer.  Nation).  N.Y.  1905. 
Hov/ard,  O.  O.,  General  Taylor  (Great  Commanders).     N.Y.     1892. 
Hughes,  R.  M.,  General  Johnston  (Great  Commanders).     N.Y.     1893. 
Humphreys,  A.  A.,  From  Gettysburg  to  the  Rapidan  (Campaigns  of  Civil 

War).     N.Y.     1883. 
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Civil  War).     N.Y.     1883. 
*Hunt,  Gaillard,  James  Madison.     N.Y.     1902. 
Johnson,  B.  T.,  General  Washington  (Great  Commanders).     N.Y.     1894. 

*  Johnston,  Alexander,  American  Orations.    4  vols.    Rev.  ed.    N.Y.    1890- 

1897. 
Jones,  J.  B.,  A  Rebel  War  Clerk's  Diary.     Phil.     1866. 
Keasbey,  L.  M.,  Nicaragua  Canal  and  Monroe  Doctrine.     N.Y.     1896. 
Kendall,  Elizabeth,  Source-Book  of  English  History.     N.Y.     1900. 
King,  Grace,  Jean  Baptiste  Le  Moyne,  Sieur  de  Bienville  (Makers  of 

Amer.).     N.Y.     1892. 
*Landon,  J.  S.,  Constitutional  History  and  Government  of  the   United 

States.     Rev.  ed.     Bost.     1900. 
*Larned,  J.  N.,  History  for  Ready  Reference.    6  vols.    Springfield,  Mass. 

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Latane,  J.  H,  America  the  World  Power  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 


GENERAL   BIBLIOGRAPHY  Vll 

♦Latane,  J.  II.,  Diplomatic  Relations  of  the  United  States  and  Spanish 

America.     Bait.     1900. 
Lecky,  W.  E.  II.,  American  Revolution  (ed.  J.  A.  Woodburn).   N.Y.    1898. 
Lee,  Fitzhugh,  General  Lee  (Great  Commanders).     N.Y.     1894. 
Lighton,  W.  R.,  Lewis  and  Clark  (Riverside).     Bost.     1901. 
Linn,  W.  A.,  Horace  Greeley.     N.Y.     1903. 
Linn,  W.  A.,  Story  of  the  Mormons.     N.Y.     1902. 

*  Locke,  M.  S.,  Anti-Slavery  in  America,  1619-1808.     Bost.     1901. 

*  Lodge,  H.  C,  Alexander  Hamilton  (Araer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 

*  Lodge,  II.  C.,  Daniel  Webster  (Anier.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 

*  Lodge,  H.  C,  George  Washington  (Anier.  Statesmen).  2  vols.  Bost.  1900. 
Lodge,  H.  C.,  Story  of  the  Revolution.     2  vols.     N.Y.     1898.     Also  new 

ed.,  in  1  vol.,  1903. 
Longstreet,  James,  From  3Ianassas  to  Appomattox.     Phil.     1896. 
Lothrop,  T.  K.,  William  Henry  Seward  (Amer.  Statesmen).    Bost.    1900. 
Lucas,  C.  P.,  Historical  Geography  of  the  British  Colonies.      Vol.  V. 

Pt.  i.     Oxford.     1901. 
McCall,  S.  W.,  Thaddeus  Stevens  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 
McCarthy,  C.  II.,  Lincoln's  Plan  of  Reconstruction.     N.Y.     1901. 
*McCrady,  Edward,  History  of  South  Carolina.  4  vols.    N.Y.    1897-1902. 
McCulloch,  Hugh,  Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a  Century.     N.Y.     1888. 
MacDonald,  William,  Jacksonian  Democracy  (Amer.  Nation).     N.Y. 
McDougall,  M.  G.,  Fugitive  Slaves.     Bost.     1891. 
McLaughlin,  A.   C,    Confederation   and    Constitution   (Amer.   Nation). 

N.Y.     1905. 
McLaughlin,  A.  C,  Lewis  Cass  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 
*Maclay,  E.  S.,  Hi story  of  American  Privateers.    N.Y.     1899. 
Maclay,  E.  S.,  History  of  the  United  States  Navy.   3  vols.   N.Y.   1901-1902. 
*McMaster,  J.  B.,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States  from  the 

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*  Moore,  Frank,  Diary  of  the  American  Revolution.    2  vols.    N.Y.    1860. 
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*  Morse,  J.  T.,  Alexander  Hamilton.     2  vols.     Bost.     1876. 
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*  Morse,  J.  T.,  John  Adams  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 
Morse,  J.  T.,  John  Quincy  Adams  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 


Vlll  APPENDIX   B 

♦Morse,  J.  T.,  Thomas  Jefferson  (Amer.  Statesmen).    Bost.     1900. 

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♦Parkman,  Francis,  Half-Century  of  Conflict.     2  vols.     Bost.     1892. 

*  Parkman,  Francis,  The  Jesuits  in  North  America.     Bost.     1867. 
♦Parkman,  Francis,  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West.    Rev. 

ed.     Bost.     1887. 
♦Parkman,  Francis,  Montcalm  and  Wolfe.    2  vols.     Bost.     1884. 
Parkman,  Francis,  Old  Begime  in  Canada.     Rev.  ed.     Bost.     1895. 
Parkman,  Francis,  Oregon  Trail.     Kev.  ed.     Bost.     1892. 
Parkman,  Francis,   Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New   World.     Rev.  ed. 

Bost.     1887. 
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Payne,  E.  J.,  ed.,  Voyages  of  the  Elizabethan  Seamen.     2  vols.     Oxford. 

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Peck,  C.  II.,  Jackso nian  Epoch.     N.Y.     1899. 
Pellew,  George,  John  Jay  (Amer.  Statesmen).     Bost.     1900. 
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APPENDIX  C 
DECLARATION   OF   INDEPENDENCE 

(Agreed  to,  July  4,  1776) 
[From  a  facsimile  of  the  original  parchment] 

In  Congress,  July  4,  1776 

the  unanimous  declaration  of  the  thirteen  united 
states  of  america 

S^Eljen  in  the  Course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary  for  one  people 
to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and 
to  assume  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to 
which  the  Laws  of  Nature  and  of  Nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect 
to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which 
impel  them  to  the  separation.  —  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that 
all  men  are  created  equal,  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  cer- 
tain unalienable  Rights,  that  among  these  are  Life,  Liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  Happiness.  —  That  to  secure  these  rights,  Governments  are  instituted  among 
Men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  — That  when- 
ever any  Form  of  Government  becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  Right 
of  the  People  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  new  Government,  lay- 
ing its  foundation  on  such  principles  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form, 
as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  Safety  and  Happiness.  Pru- 
dence, indeed,  will  dictate  that  Governments  long  established  should  not  be 
changed  for  light  and  transient  causes ;  and  accordingly  all  experience  hath 
shewn,  that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer,  while  evils  are  sufferable, 
than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accus- 
tomed. But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing  invariably 
the  game  Object  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute  Despotism,  it 
is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty,  to  throw  off  such  Government,  and  to  provide 
new  Guards  for  their  future  security. —  Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance 
of  these  Colonies  ;  and  such  is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains  them  to  alter 
their  former  Systems  of  Government.  The  history  of  the  present  King  of 
Great  Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having  m 
direct  object  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  Tyranny  over  these  States. 
To  prove  this,  let  Facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world.  —  He  has  refused  his 
Assent  to  Laws,  the  most  wholesome  and  necessary  for  the  public  good.  —  He 
has  forbidden  his  Governors  to  pass  Laws  of  immediate  and  pressing  impor- 

xi 


Xll  APPENDIX   C 

tance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his  Assent  should  be  obtained ; 
and  when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  them.  — He  has 
refused  to  pass  other  Laws  for  the  accommodation  of  large  districts  of  people, 
unless  those  people  would  relinquish  the  right  of  Representation  in  the  Legis- 
lature, a  right  inestimable  to  them  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only.  —  He  has 
called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual,  uncomfortable,  and  distant 
from  the  depository  of  their  public  Records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing 
them  into  compliance  with  his  measures.  —  He  has  dissolved  Representative 
Houses  repeatedly,  for  opposing  with  manly  firmness  his  invasions  on  the 
rights  of  the  people.  —  He  has  refused  for  a  long  time,  after  such  dissolutions, 
to  cause  others  to  be  elected ;  whereby  the  Legislative  powers,  incapable  of 
Annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  People  at  large  for  their  exercise ;  the  State 
remaining  in  the  mean  time  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from  with- 
out, and  convulsions  within.  —  He  has  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  population 
of  these  States;  for  that  purpose  obstructing  the  Laws  for  Naturalization  of 
Foreigners  ;  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their  migrations  hither,  and 
raising  the  conditions  of  new  Appropriations  of  Lands. — He  has  obstructed 
the  Administration  of  Justice,  by  refusing  his  Assent  to  Laws  for  establishing 
Judiciary  powers.  —  He  has  made  Judges  dependent  on  his  Will  alone,  for  the 
tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries.  — He  has 
erected  a  multitude  of  New  Offices,  and  sent  hither  swarms  of  Officers  to  har- 
rass  our  people,  and  eat  out  their  substance.  — He  has  kept  among  us,  in  times 
of  peace,  Standing  Armies  without  the  Consent  of  our  legislatures. — He  has 
affected  to  render  the  Military  independent  of  and  superior  to  the  Civil 
power. — He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign 
to  our  constitution,  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws;  giving  his  Assent  to 
their  Acts  of  pretended  Legislation:  —  For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed 
troops  among  us:  — For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  Trial,  from  punishment  for 
any  Murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the  Inhabitants  of  these  States:  — 
For  cutting  off  our  Trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world :  —  For  imposing  Taxes 
on  us  without  our  Consent:  —  For  depriving  us  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits 
of  Trial  by  Jury :  —  For  transporting  us  beyond  Seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended 
offences :  —  For  abolishing  the  free  System  of  English  Laws  in  a  neighbouring 
Province,  establishing  therein  an  Arbitrary  government,  and  enlarging  its 
Boundaries  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  intro- 
ducing the  same  absolute  rule  into  these  Colonies: — For  taking  away  our 
Charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable  Laws,  and  altering  fundamentally  the 
Forms  of  our  Governments  :  —  For  suspending  our  own  Legislatures,  and  declar- 
ing themselves  invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever.  — 
He  has  abdicated  Government  here,  by  declaring  us  out  of  his  Protection  and 
waging  War  against  us. — He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  Coasts, 
burnt  our  towns,  and  destroyed  the  Lives  of  our  people.  —  He  is  at  this  time 
transporting  large  Armies  of  foreign  Mercenaries  to  compleat  the  works  of 
death,  desolation  and  tyranny,  already  begun  with  circumstances  of  Cruelty 
&  perfidy  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy 
the  Head  of  a  civilized  nation.  —  He  has  constrained  our  fellow  Citizens  taken 
Captive  on  the  high  Seas  to  bear  Arms  against  their  Country,  to  become  the 
executioners  of  their  friends  and  Brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by  their 


DECLARATION   OF   INDEPENDENCE  xiii 

Hands. — He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst  us,  and  has  en- 
deavoured to  hring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers,  the  merciless  Indian 
Savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare,  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of 
all  ages,  sexes  and  conditions.  In  every  stage  of  these  Oppressions  We  have 
Petitioned  for  Redress  in  the  most  humble  terms:  Our  repeated  Petitions 
have  been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  Prince,  whose  character  is 
thus  marked  by  every  act  which  may  define  a  Tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler 
of  a  free  people.  Nor  have  We  been  wanting  in  attentions  to  our  Brittish 
brethren.  We  have  warned  them  from  time  to  time  of  attempts  by  their 
legislature  to  extend  an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  re- 
minded them  of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigration  and  settlement  here. 
We  have  appealed  to  their  native  justice  and  magnanimity,  and  we  have  con- 
jured them  by  the  ties  of  our  common  kindred  to  disavow  these  usurpations, 
which,  would  inevitably  interrupt  our  connections  and  correspondence.  They 
too  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity.  We  must,  there- 
fore, acquiesce  in  the  necessity,  which  denounces  our  Separation,  and  hold  them, 
as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  Enemies  in  War,  in  Peace  Friends.  — 

m.e,  therefore,  the  Representatives  of  the  uniteo  States  of.  America,  in  General 
Congress,  Assembled,  appealing  to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the 
rectitude  of  our  intentions,  do,  in  the  Name,  and  by  Authority  of  the  good 
People  of  these  Colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  declare,  That  these  United 
Colonies  are,  and  of  Right  ought  to  be,  Jrce  anto  Bnoepenttmt  States ;  that  they  are 
Absolved  from  all  Allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  that  all  political  con- 
nection between  them  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain,  is  and  ought  to  be  totally 
dissolved ;  and  that  as  Free  and  Independent  States,  they  have  full  Power  to 
levy  War,  conclude  Peace,  contract  Alliances,  establish  Commerce,  and  to  do 
all  other  Acts  and  Things  which  Independent  States  may  of  right  do.  —  And 
for  the  support  of  this  Declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of 
divine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  Lives,  our  Fortunes 
and  our  sacred  Honor. 

JOHN   HANCOCK. 

[Signatures  of  representatives  of  the  thirteen  States,  affixed  August  2,  1776.] 


APPENDIX   D 

CONSTITUTION   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 
OF  AMERICA   (1787) 1 

(Submitted  Sept.  17,  1787;  in  force  April  30,  1789.) 

[The  following  text  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  including  the  Amendments 
thereto,  is  reprinted  with  the  accompanying  notes  from  American  History 
Leaflets,  No.  8,  for  which  the  original  parchment  rolls  were  compared.] 

We  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  Order  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union, 
establish  Justice,  insure  domestic  Tranquility,  provide  for  the  common 
defence,  promote  the  general  Welfare,  and  secure  the  Blessings  of  Liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  Posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution 
for  the  United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE.  I, 

Section.  1.  All  legislative  Powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives. 

Section.  2.  [§  1.]  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of  Mem- 
bers chosen  every  second  Year  by  the  People  of  the  several  States,  and  the 
Electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  Qualifications  requisite  for  Electors  of 
the  most  numerous  Branch  of  the  State  Legislature. 

[§  2.]  No  Person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
Age  of  twenty  five  Years,  and  been  seven  Years  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant  of  that  State  in  which  be 
shall  be  chosen. 

[§  3.]  Representatives  and  direct  Taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  according  to  their 
respective  Numbers,  [which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  the  whole 
Number  of  free  Persons,]2  including  those  bound  to  Service  for-aTerm  of 
Years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  [three  fifths  of  all  other  Persons].3 
The  actual  Enumeration  shall  be  made  within  three  Years  after  the  first 
Meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent 

1  There  is  no  title  in  the  original  manuscript. 

2  Modified  by  Fourteenth  Amendment. 

8  Superseded  by  Fourteenth  Amendment. 

xiv 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES  XV 

Term  of  ten  Years,  in  such  Manner  as  they  shall  by  Law  direct.  The  Number 
of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  Thousand,  but  each 
State  shall  have  at  Least  one  Representative;  [and  until  such  enumeration 
shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  chuse  three, 
Massachusetts  eight,  Rhode-Island  and  Providence  Plantations  one,  Connecti- 
cut iive,  New- York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight,  Delaware  one, 
Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North  Carolina  rive,  South  Carolina  five,  and 
Georgia  three.]  l 

[§  4.]  When  vacancies  happen  in  the  Representation  from  any  State,  the 
Executive  Authority  thereof  shall  issue  Writs  of  Election  to  fill  such  Vacancies. 

[§  5.]  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  chuse  their  Speaker  and  other 
Officers;  and  shall  have  the  sole  Power  of  Impeachment. 

Section.  3.  [§  1.]  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two 
Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof,  for  six  Years; 
and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  Vote. 

[§  2.]  Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  Consequence  of  the  first 
Election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into  three  Classes.  The 
Seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  Class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  Expiration  of 
the  second  Year,  of  the  second  Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the  fourth  Year, 
and  of  the  third  Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the  sixth  Year,  so  that  one  third 
may  be  chosen  every  second  Year;  and  if  Vacancies  happen  by  Resignation, 
or  otherwise,  during  the  Recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any  State,  the  Executive 
thereof  may  make  temporary  Appointments  until  the  next  Meeting  of  the 
Legislature,  which  shall  then  fill  such  Vacancies. 

[§  3.]  No  Person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  Age 
of  thirty  Years,  and  been  nine  Years  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who 
shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant  of  that  State  for  which  he  shall  be 
chosen.  s 

[§  4.]  The  Vice  President\>4J,hs<lJnited  States  shall  be  President  of  the 
Senate,  but  shall  have  no  Vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided. 

[§  5.]  The  Senate  shall  chuse  their  other  Officers,  and  also  a  President  pro 
tempore,  in  the  Absence  of  the  Vice  President,  or  when  he  shall  exercise  the 
Office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

[§  6.]  The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  Power  to  try  all  Impeachments.  When 
sitting  for  that  Purpose,  they  shall  be  on  Oath  or  Affirmation.  When  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside :  And 
no  Person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  Concurrence  of  two  thirds  of  the 
Members  present. 

[§  7.]  Judgment  in  Cases  of  Impeachment  shall  not  extend  further  than  to 
removal  from  Office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any  Office  of 
honor,  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United  States :  but  the  Party  convicted  shall 
nevertheless  be  liable  and  subject  to  Indictment,  Trial,  Judgment  and  Punish- 
ment, according  to  Law. 

Section.  4.  [§  1.]    The  Times,  Places  and  Manner  of  holding  Elections  for 
Senators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legis- 
lature thereof ;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  Law  make  or  alter  such 
Regulations,  except  as  to  the  Places  of  chusing  Senators. 
1  Temporary  clause. 


xvi  APPENDIX   D 

[§  2.]  The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  Year,  and  such 
Meeting  shall  he  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  shall  by  Law 
appoint  a  different  Day. 

Section.  5.  [§  1.]  Each  House  shall  be  the  Judge  of  the  Elections,  Returns 
and  Qualifications  of  its  own  Members,  and  a  Majority  of  each  shall  consti- 
tute a  Quorum  to  do  Business;  but  a  smaller  Number  may  adjourn  from  day 
to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  Members, 
in  such  Manner,  and  under  such  Penalties  as  each  House  may  provide. 

[§  2.]  Each  House  may  determine  the  Rules  of  its  Proceedings,  punish  its 
Members  for  Disorderly  Behaviour,  and,  with  the  Concurrence  of  two  thirds, 
expel  a  Member. 

[§  3.]  Each  House  shall  keep  a  Journal  of  its  Proceedings,  and  from  time  to 
time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  Parts  as  may  in  their  Judgment  require 
Secrecy;  and  the  Yeas  and  Nays  of  the  Members  of  either  House  on  any 
question  shall,  at  the  Desire  of  one  fifth  of  those  Present,  be  entered  on  the 
Journal. 

[§  4.]  Neither  House,  during  the  Session  of  Congress,  shall,  without  the 
Consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  Place 
than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

Section.  G.  [§  1.]  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a  Com- 
pensation for  their  Services,  to  be  ascertained  by  Law,  and  paid  out  of  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall  in  all  Cases,  except  Treason,  Felony 
and  Breach  of  the  Peace,  be  privileged  from  Arrest  during  their  Attendance 
at  the  Session  of  their  respective  Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from 
the  same ;  and  for  any  Speech  or  Debate  in  either  House,  they  shall  not  be 
questioned  in  any  other  Place. 

[§  2.]  No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  Time  for  which  he 
was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  Office  under  tbe  Authority  of  the  United 
States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the  Emoluments  whereof  shall  have 
been  encreased  during  such  time ;  and  no  Person  holding  any  Office  under  the 
United  States,  shall  be  a  Member  of  either  House  during  his  Continuance  in 
Office. 

Section.  7.  [§  1.]  All  Bills  for  raising  Revenue  shall  originate  in  the  House 
of  Representatives;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with  Amendments 
as  on  other  Bills. 

[§  2.]  Every  Bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  and 
the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a  Law,  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States ;  If  he  approve  he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with 
his  Objections  to  that  House  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter 
the  Objections  at  large  on  their  Journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If 
after  such  Reconsideration  two  thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the 
Bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  Objections,  to  the  other  House,  by 
which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved  by  two  thirds  of  that 
House,  it  shall  become  a  Law.  But  in  all  such  Cases  the  Votes  of  both  Houses 
shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  Nays,  and  the  Names  of  the  Persons  voting 
for  and  against  the  Bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  Journal  of  each  House  respec- 
tively. If  any  Bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  Days 
(Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES  xvii 

be  a  Law,  in  like  Manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their 
Adjournment  prevent  its  Return,  in  which  Case  it  shall  not  be  a  Law. 

[§  3.]  Every  Order,  Resolution,  or  Vote  to  which  the  Concurrence  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except  on  a  question 
of  Adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States;  and 
before  the  same  shall  take  Effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disap- 
proved by  him,  shall  be  repassed  by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives,  according  to  the  Rules  and  Limitations  prescribed  in  the  Case 
of  a  Bill. 

Section.  8.  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  [§  1.]  To  lay  and  collect  Taxes, 
Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises,  to  pay  the  Debts  and  provide  for  the  common 
Defence  and  general  Welfare  of  the  United  States ;  but  all  Duties,  Imposts 
and  Excises  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States ; 

[§  2.J    To  borrow  Money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States ; 

[§  3.]  To  regulate  Commerce  with  foreign  Nations,  and  among  the  several 
States,  and  with  the  Indian  Tribes ; 

[§  4.]  To  establish  an  uniform  Rule  of  Naturalization,  and  uniform  Laws 
on  the  subject  of  Bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States ; 

[§  5.]  To  coin  Money,  regulate  the  Value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  Coin,  and 
fix  the  Standard  of  Weights  and  Measures; 

[§  G.]  To  provide  for  the  Punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  Securities  aud 
current  Coin  of  the  United  States; 

[§  7.]    To  establish  Post  Offices  and  post  Roads ; 

[§  8.]  To  promote  the  Progress  of  Science  and  useful  Arts,  by  securing  for 
limited  Times  to  Authors  and  Inventors  the  exclusive  Right  to  their  respective 
Writings  and  Discoveries ; 

[§  9.]    To  constitute  Tribunals  inferior  to  the  supreme  Court ; 

[§  10.]  To  define  and  punish  Piracies  and  Felonies  committed  on  the  high 
Seas,  and  Offences  against  the  Law  of  Nations ; 

[§  11.]  To  declare  War,  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal,  and  make 
Rules  concerning  Captures  on  Land  and  Water ; 

[§  12.]  To  raise  and  support  Armies,  but  no  Appropriation  of  Money  to 
that  Use  shall  be  for  a  longer  Term  than  two  Years ; 

[§  13.]    To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy ; 

[§  14.]  To  make  Rules  for  the  Government  and  Regulation  of  the  laud  and 
naval  Forces ; 

[§  15.]  To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  Militia  to  execute  the  Laws  of  the 
Union,  suppress  Insurrections  and  repel  Invasions; 

[§  16.]  To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining,  the  Militia, 
and  for  governing  such  Part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the  Service  of 
the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively,  the  Appointment  of 
the  Officers,  and  the  Authority  of  training  the  Militia  according  to  the  disci- 
pline prescribed  by  Congress ; 

[§  17.]  To  exercise  exclusive  Legislation  in  all  Cases  whatsoever,  over  such 
District  (not  exceeding  ten  Miles  square)  as  may,  by  Cession  of  particular 
States,  and  the  Acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  Seat  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like  Authority  over  all  Places  purchased 
by  the  Consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for 


XV111  APPENDIX   D 

the  Erection  of  Forts,  Magazines,  Arsenals,  dock-Yards,  and  other  needful 
Buildings;  —  And 

[§  18.]  To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
into  Execution  the  foregoing  Powers,  and  all  other  Powers  vested  by  this 
Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  Department 
or  Officer  thereof. 
*""  Section.  9.  [§  1.]  [The  Migration  or  Importation  of  such  Persons  as  any  of 
the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited 
by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  Year 'one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  but 
a  Tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  Importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars 
for  each  Person.]  l 

[§  2.]  The  Privilege  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  shall  not  be  suspended, 
unless  when  in  Cases  of  Rebellion  or  Invasion  the  public  Safety  may  require  it. 

[§  3.]     No  Bill  of  Attainder  or  ex  post  facto  Law  shall  be  passed.'2 

[§  4.]  No  Capitation,  or  other  direct,  Tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  Propor- 
tion to  the  Census  or  Enumeration  herein  before  directed  to  be  taken. 

[§  5.]     No  Tax  or  Duty  shall  be  laid  on  Articles  exported  from  any  State. 

[§  6.]  No  Preference  shall  be  given  by  any  Regulation  of  Commerce  or 
Revenue  to  the  Ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another:  nor  shall  Vessels 
bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay  Duties  in 
another. 

[§  7.]  No  Money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  but  in  Consequence  of 
Appropriations  made  by  Law;  and  a  regular  Statement  and  Account  of  the 
Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  all  public  Money  shall  be  published  from  time 
to  time. 

[§  8.]  No  Title  of  Nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States:  And  no 
Person  holding  any  Office  of  Profit  or  Trust  under  them,  shall,  without  the 
Consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present,  Emolument,  Office,  or  Title,  of 
any  kind  whatever,  from  any  King,  Prince,  or  foreign  State.3 

Section.  10.  [§  1.]  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  Treaty,  Alliance,  or  Con- 
federation ;  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal ;  coin  Money ;  emit  Bills 
of  Credit ;  make  any  Thing  but  gold  and  silver  Coin  a  Tender  in  Payment  of 
Debts ;  pass  any  Bill  of  Attainder,  ex  post  facto  Law,  or  Law  impairing  the 
Obligation  of  Contracts,  or  grant  any  Title  of  Nobility. 

[§  2.]  No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  Imposts 
or  Duties  on  Imports  or  Exports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely  necessary 
for  executing  its  inspection  Laws:  and  the  net  Produce  of  all  Duties  and 
Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  Imports  or  Exports,  shall  be  for  the  Use  of  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States;  and  all  such  Laws  shall  be  subject  to  the 
Revision  and  Controul  of  the  Congress. 

[§  3.]  No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  Duty  of 
Tonnage,  keep  Troops,  or  Ships  of  War  in  time  of  Peace,  enter  into  any 
Agreement  or  Compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a  foreign  Power,  or 
engage  in  War,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  Danger  as  will 
not  admit  of  delay.4 

1  Temporary  provision.  2  Extended  by  the  first  eight  Amendments. 

3  Extended  by  Ninth  and  Tenth  Amendments. 

4  Extended  by  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Fifteenth  Amendments. 


- 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES  xix 

ARTICLE.  II. 


Section.  1.  [§  1.]  The  executive  Power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  Office  during  the  Term  of  four 
Years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice  President,  chosen  for  the  same  Term,  he 
elected,  as  follows 

[§  2.]  Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  Manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof 
may  direct,  a  Number  of  Electors,  equal  to  the  whole  Number  of  Senators 
and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress:  but 
no  Senator  or  Representative,  or  Person  holding  an  Office  of  Trust  or  Profit 
under  the  United  States,  shall  be  appointed  an  Elector. 

[The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by  Ballot  for 
two  Persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  Inhabitant  of  the  same 
State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall  make  a  List  of  all  the  Persons  voted 
for,  and  of  the  Number  of  Votes  for  each;  which  List  they  shall  sign  and 
certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  Seat  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate 
shall,  in  the  Presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all 
the  Certificates,  and  the  Votes  shall  then  be  counted.  The  Person  having  the 
greatest  Number  of  Votes  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  Number  be  a  Major- 
ity of  the  whole  Number  of  Electors  appointed ;  and  if  there  be  more  than 
one  who  have  such  Majority,  and  have  an  equal  Number  of  Votes,  then  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately  chuse  by  Ballot  one  of  them  for 
President;  and  if  no  Person  have  a  Majority,  then  from  the  five  highest  on 
the  List  the  said  House  shall  in  like  Manner  chuse  the  President.  But  in 
chasing  the  President,  the  Votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  Representation 
from  each  State  having  one  Vote ;  A  quorum  for  this  Purpose  shall  consist  of 
a  Member  or  Members  from  two  thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  Majority  of  all 
the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  Choice.  In  every  Case,  after  the  Choice  of 
the  President,  the  Person  having  the  greatest  Number  of  Votes  of  the  Elec- 
tors shall  be  the  Vice  President.  But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more 
who  have  equal  Votes,  the  Senate  shall  chuse  from  them  by  Ballot  the  Vice 
President.]  1 

[§  3.]  The  Congress  may  determine  the  Time  of  chusing  the  Electors,  and 
the  Day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  Votes ;  which  Day  shall  be  the  same 
throughout  the  United  States. 

{§  4.]  No  Person  except  a  natural  born  Citizen,  or  a  Citizen  of  the  United 
States,  at  the  time  of  the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligible  to 
the  Office  of  President ;  neither  shall  any  Person  be  eligible  to  that  Office  who 
shall  not  have  attained  to  the  Age  of  thirty  five  Years,  and  been  fourteen 
Years  a  Resident  within  the  United  States. 

[§  5.]  In  Case  of  the  Removal  of  the  President  from  Office,  or  of  his  Death, 
Resignation,  or  Inability  to  discharge  the  Powers  and  Duties  of  the  said  Office, 
the  Same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice  President,  and  the  Congress  may  by  Law 
provide- for  the  Case  of  Removal,  Death,  Resignation,  or  Inability,  both  of 
the  President  and  Vice  President,  declaring  what  Officer  shall  then  act  as 

1  Superseded  by  Twelfth  Amendment. 


XX  APPENDIX   D 

President,  and  such  Officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  Disability  be 
removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

[§  b\]  The  President  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for  his  Services,  a  Com- 
pensation, which  shall  neither  be  encreased  nor  diminished  during  the  Period 
for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and  he  shall  not  receive  within  that 
Period  any  other  Emolument  from  the  United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

[§  7.]  Before  he  enter  on  the  Execution  of  his  Office,  he  shall  take  the  fol- 
lowing Oath  or  Affirmation  :  — 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  Office  of 
"  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  my  Ability,  preserve, 
"protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Section.  2.  [§  1.]  The  President  shall  be  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Army 
and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Militia  of  the  several  States,  when 
called  into  the  actual  Service  of  the  United  States ;  he  may  require  the  Opin- 
ion, in  writing,  of  the  principal  Officer  in  each  of  the  executive  Departments, 
upon  any  Subject  relating  to  the  Duties  of  their  respective  Offices,  and  he 
shall  have  Power  to  grant  Reprieves  and  Pardons  for  Offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment. 

[§  2.]  He  shall  have  Power,  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  make  Treaties,  provided  two  thirds  of  the  Senators  present  concur; 
and  he  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Senate, 
shall  appoint  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  Judges  of  the 
supreme  Court,  and  all  other  Officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  Appoint- 
ments are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established 
by  Law :  but  the  Congress  may  by  Law  vest  the  Appointment  of  such  inferior 
Officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  Courts  of  Law, 
or  in  the  Heads  of  Departments. 

[§  3,]  The  President  shall  have  Power  to  fill  up  all  Vacancies  that  may 
happen  during  the  Recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  Commissions  which  shall 
expire  at  the  End  of  their  next  Session. 

Skction.  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  Information 
of  the  State  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  Consideration  such  Meas- 
ures as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient ;  he  may,  on  extraordinary 
Occasions,  convene  both  Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  Case  of  Disagree- 
ment between  them,  with  Respect  to  the  Time  of  Adjournment,  he  may 
adjourn  them  to  such  Time  as  he  shall  think  proper;  he  shall  receive  Am- 
bassadors and  other  public  Ministers ;  he  shall  take  Care  that  the  Laws  be 
faithfully  executed,  and  shall  Commission  all  the  Officers  of  the  United 
States. 

Section.  4.  The  President,  Vice  President  and  all  civil  Officers  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  Office  on  Impeachment  for,  and  Con- 
viction of,  Treason,  Bribery,  or  other  high  Crimes  and  Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE.   III. 

Section.  1.  The  judicial  Power  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  vested  in  one 
supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  Courts  as  the  Congress  may  from  time 
to  time  ordain  and  establish.    The  Judges,  both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES  xxi 

Courts,  shall  hold  their  Offices  during  good  Behaviour,  and  shall,  at  stated 
Times,  receive  for  their  Services,  a  Compensation,  which  shall  not  he  dimin- 
ished during  their  Continuance  in  Office. 

Section.  2.  [§  1.]  The  judicial  Power  shall  extend  to  all  Cases,  in  Law 
and  Equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  Laws  of  the  United  States, 
and  Treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their  Authority; — to  all 
Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls; — to  all 
Cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  Jurisdiction ;  — to  Controversies  to  which 
the  United  States  shall  be  a  Party;  —  to  Controversies  between  two  or  more 
States ;  — between  a  State  and  Citizens  of  another  State ; x  —  between  Citizens 
of  different  States,  —  between  Citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming  Lands 
under  Grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  Citizens  thereof, 
and  foreign  States,  Citizens  or  Subjects. 

[§  2.]  In  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and  Con- 
suls, and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  Party,  the  supreme  Court  shall  have 
original  Jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other  Cases  before  mentioned,  the  supreme 
Court  shall  have  appellate  Jurisdiction,  both  as  to  Law  and  Fact,  with  such 
Exceptions,  and  under  such  Regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

[§  3.]  The  Trial  of  all  Crimes,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment,  shall  be  by 
Jury;  and  such  Trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  said  Crimes  shall 
have  been  committed;  but  when  not  committed  within  any  State,  the  Trial 
shall  be  at  such  Place  or  Places  as  the  Congress  may  by  Law  have  directed. 

Section.  3.  [§  1.]  Treason  against  the  United  States,  shall  consist  only  in 
levying  War  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  Enemies,  giving  them  Aid 
and  Comfort.  No  Person  shall  be  convicted  of  Treason  unless  on  the  Testi- 
mony of  two  Witnesses  to  the  same  overt  Act,  or  on  Confession  in  open  Court. 

[§  2.]  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  declare  the  Punishment  of  Treason, 
but  no  Attainder  of  Treason  shall  work  Corruption  of  Blood,  or  Forfeiture 
except  during  the  Life  of  the  Person  attainted. 

ARTICLE.   IV. 

Section.  1.  Full  Faith  and  Credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to  the  pub- 
lic Acts,  Records,  and  judicial  Proceedings  of  every  other  State.  And  the 
Congress  may  by  general  Laws  prescribe  the  Manner  in  which  such  Acts, 
Records  and  Proceedings  shall  be  proved,  and  the  Effect  thereof. 

Section.  2.  [§  1.]  The  Citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  Privi- 
leges and  Immunities  of  Citizens  in  the  several  States.2 

[§  2.]  A  Person  charged  in  any  State  with  Treason,  Felony,  or  other  Crime, 
who  shall  flee  from  Justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State,  shall  on  Demand 
of  the  executive  Authority  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up, 
to  be  removed  to  the  State  having  Jurisdiction  of  the  Crime. 

[§  3-]  [No  Person  held  to  Service  or  Labour  in  one  State,  under  the  Laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  Consequence  of  any  Law  or  Regula- 
tion therein,  be  discharged  from  such  Service  or  Labour,  but  shall  be  delivered 
up  on  Claim  of  the  Party  to  whom  such  Service  or  Labour  may  be  due.]  8 

i  Limited  by  Eleventh  Amendment.  2  Extended  by  Fourteenth  Amendment. 

8  Superseded  by  Thirteenth  Amendment  so  far  as  it  relates  to  slaves. 


"0>^0 


xxil  APPENDIX   D 

Section.  3.  [§  1.]  New  States  maybe  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  this 
Union ;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  Jurisdiction  of 
any  other  State ;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the  Junction  of  two  or  more 
States,  or  Parts  of  States,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States 
concerned  as  well  as  of  the  Congress. 

[§  2.]  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful 
Rules  and  Regulations  respecting  the  Territory  or  other  Property  belonging  to 
the  United  States ;  and  nothing  in  this  Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to 
Prejudice  any  Claims  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

Section.  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union 
a  Republican  Form  of  Government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against 
Invasion ;  and  on  Application  of  the  Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  (when 
the  Legislature  cannot  be  convened)  against  domestic  Violence. 


ARTICLE.   V. 


The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem  it  necessary, 
shall  propose  Amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  the  Application  of  the 
Legislatures  of  two  thirds  of  the  several  States,  shall  call  a  Convention  for 
proposing  Amendments,  which,  in  either  Case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  Intents  and 
Purposes,  as  Part  of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of 
three  fourths  of  the  several  States,  or  by  Conventions  in  three  fourths  thereof, 
as  the  one  or  the  other  Mode  of  Ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress ; 
Provided  [that  no  Amendment  which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  Year  One 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in  any  Manner  affect  the  first  and 
fourth  Clauses  in  the  Ninth  Section  of  the  first  Article ;  and]  1  that  no  State, 
without  its  Consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  Suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE.   VI. 

[§  1.]  All  Debts  contracted  and  Engagements  entered  into,  before  the 
Adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United  States 
under  this  Constitution,  as  under  the  Confederation.2 

[§  2.]  This  Constitution,  and  the  Laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall 
be  made  in  Pursuance  thereof;  and  all  Treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be 
made,  under  the  Authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme 
Law  of  the  Land ;  and  the  Judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby, 
any  Thing  in  the  Constitution  or  Laws  of  any  State  to  the  Contrary  notwith- 
standing. 

[§  3.]  The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the  Members 
of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  judicial  Officers,  both 
of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several  States,  shall  be  bound  by  Oath  or 
Affirmation,  to  support  this  Constitution;  but  no  religious  Test  shall  ever  be 
required  a,3  a  Qualification  to  any  Office  or  public  Trust  under  the  United 
States. 

1  Temporary  provision. 

2  Extended  by  Fourteenth  Amendment,  Section  4. 


CONSTITUTION    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES  XX111 

ARTICLE.   VII. 

The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States,  shall  he  sufficient  for  the 
Establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States  so  ratifying  the  Same. 


[Note  of  the  draughtsman  as 
to  interlineations  in  the  text  of 
the  manuscript.] 

Attest 

William  Jackson. 


Done  in  Convention  by  the  Unanimous  Consent 
of  the  States  present  the  Seventeenth  Day  of  Sep- 
tember in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  Eighty  seven  and  of  the  Independance 
of  the  United  States  of  America  the  Twelfth  In 
Witness  whereof  We  have  hereunto  subscribed  our 


names. 
Secretary.  Go  WASHINGTON- 

Presidt  and  deputy  from  Virginia. 
[Signatures  of  members  of  the  Convention.] 1 


[AMENDMENTS.] 

ARTICLES  in  addition  to  and  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  proposed  by  Congress,  and  ratified  by  the  Legis- 
latures of  the  several  States,  pursuant  to  the  fifth  Article  of  the  original 
Constitution.2 

[ARTICLE  I.]  8 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or  pro- 
hibiting the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of 
the  press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition 
the  Government  for  a  redress  of  grievances. 

[ARTICLE  II.] 

A  well  regulated  Militia,  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free  State,  the 
right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  Arms,  shall  not  be  infringed. 

[ARTICLE  III.] 

No  Soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace  be  quartered  in  any  house,  without  the 
consent  of  the  Owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  manner  to  be  prescribed 
bv  law. 

[ARTICLE  IV.] 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and 
effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated,  and 
no  Warrants  shall  issue,  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  Oath  or 
affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the 
persons  or  things  to  be  seized. 

1  These  signatures  have  no  other  legal  force  than  that  of  attestation. 

2  This  heading  appears  only  in  the  joint  resolution  submitting  the  first  ten  amendments. 

3  In  the  original  manuscripts  the  first  twelve  amendments  have  no  numbers. 


; 


.'i      ^                        Vw-^V  » 

xxiv 

APPENDIX   D 

[ARTICLE   V.] 

0 


No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  infamous 
crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  Grand  Jury,  except  in  cases 
arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  Militia,  when  in  actual  service 
in  time  of  War  or  public  danger ;  nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same 
offence  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in 
any  criminal  case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law;  nor  shall  private  property  be 
taken  for  public  use,  without  just  compensation. 

[ARTICLE   VI.] 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy 
and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  district  wherein  the 
crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district  shall  have  been  previously 
ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusa- 
tion ;  to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him;  to  have  compulsory 
process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  Assistance  of 
Counsel  for  his  defence. 

[ARTICLE   VIL] 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall  exceed  twenty 
dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved,  and  no  fact  tried  by  a 
jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any  Court  of  the  United  States,  than 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  common  law. 

[ARTICLE  VIII.] 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel 
and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

[ARTICLE  IX.] 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not  be  con- 
strued to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

[ARTICLE  X.] 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively  or  to  the 
people. i 

[ARTICLE  XL]  2 

The  Judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed  to  extend  to 
any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted  against  one  of  the  United 
States  by  Citizens  of  another  State,  or  by  Citizens  or  Subjects  of  any  Foreign 
State. 

1  Amendments  First  to  Tenth  appear  to  have  been  in  force  from  Nov.  3,  1791. 
-    2  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  Jan.  8,  1798. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES  XXV 

[ARTICLE  XII.]1 

The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  states,  and  vote  hy  hallot  for 
President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an  inhab- 
itant of  the  same  state  with  themselves ;  they  shall  name  in  their  ballots  the 
person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as 
Vice-President,  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as 
President,  and  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number 
of  votes  for  each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed 
to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  President 
of  the  Senate;  —  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates  and  the  votes 
shall  then  be  counted ;  —  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for 
President,  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  of  Electors  appointed;  and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then 
from  the  persons  having  the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding  three  on  the  list 
of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose 
immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the  President,  the 
votes  shall  be  taken  by  states,  the  representation  from  each  state  having  one 
vote;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from 
two-thirds  of  the  states,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  states  shall  be  necessary  to 
a  choice.  And  if  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President 
whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day 
of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the  President.  — The 
person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice-President,  shall  be  the 
Vice-President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors 
appointed,  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the  two  highest  num. 
hers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice-President;  a  quorum  for  the 
purpose  shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a 
majority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But  no  person 
constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be  eligible  to  that  oi 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE   XIII.2 

Section  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punish- 
ment for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist 
within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction.  Sec- 
tion 2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate 
legislation. 

ARTICLE  XIV.3 

Section  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  and  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State 

1  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  Sept.  25,  1804. 

2  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  Dec.  18,  1865.  Bears  the  unnecessary  approval  of  the 
President. 

3  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  July  28,  1868. 


XXVI  APPENDIX   D 

wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall 
abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  nor 
shall  any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due 
process  of  law;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal 
protection  of  the  laws. 

Section  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several  States 
according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the  whole  number  of  persons 
in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at 
any  election  for  the  choice  of  electors  lor  President  and  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States,  Representatives  in  Congress,  the  Executive  and  Judicial  officers 
of  a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any  of  the 
male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  except  for  participation  in 
rebellion,  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  representation  therein  shall  be  reduced 
in  the  proportion  which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the 
whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

Section  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in  Congress, 
or  elector  of  President  and  Vice  President,  or  hold  any  office,  civil  or  military, 
under  the  United  States,  or  under  any  State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an 
oath,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a 
member  of  any  State  legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any 
State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged  in 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the 
enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  each  House, 
remove  such  disability. 

Section  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States,  authorized 
by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pensions  and  bounties  for 
services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion,  shall  not  be  questioned. 
But  neither  the  United  States  nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt 
or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave ;  but  all  such 
debts,  obligations  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

Section  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appropriate 
legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

ARTICLE  XV.i 

Section  1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on  account  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude.  — 

Section  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appro- 
priate legislation. — 

»  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  Mar.  30, 1870. 


APPENDIX   E 

PROCLAMATION   OF   EMANCIPATION 
(January    1,    1863) 

[From  the  facsimile  in  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  VI,  422.] 
BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  : 

A  Proclamation. 

Whereas,  on  the  twenty  second  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty  two,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  containing,  among  other  things,  the  following, 
to  wit : 

"That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  State  or 
designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free;  and  the 
Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval 
authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons, 
and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  .to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any 
efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

"  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  procla- 
mation, designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which  the  people 
thereof,  respectively,  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States ;  and 
the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be,  in  good 
faith,  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  members  chosen 
thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  State 
shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  countervailing  testi- 
mony, be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  State,  and  the  people  thereof, 
are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States." 

Now,  therefore  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  by 
virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Commander-in-chief,  of  the  Army  and 
Navy  of  the  United  States  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against  [the] 
authority  and  government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary 
war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty  three,  and  in 
accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period 
of  one  hundred  days,  from  the  day  first  above  mentioned,  order  and  desig- 
nate as  the  States  and  parts  of  States  wherein  the  people  thereof  respectively, 
are  this. day  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  the  following,  to  wit: 

xxvii 


xxviii  APPENDIX   E 

Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana,  (except  the  Parishes  of  St.  Bernard,  Plaque- 
mines, Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James,  Ascension,  Assumption, 
Terrebonne,  Lafourche,  St.  Mary,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  City 
of  New  Orleans)  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South-Carolina, 
North-Carolina,  and  Virginia,  (except  the  forty  eight  counties  designated  as 
West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkley,  Accomac,  Northampton, 
Elizabeth-City,  York,  Princess,  Ann,  and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of 
Norfolk  &  Portsmouth) ;  and  which  excepted  parts  are,  for  the  present,  left 
precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power,  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  do  order  and 
declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said  designated  States,  and 
parts  of  States,  are,  and  henceforward  shall  be  free ;  and  that  the  Executive 
government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authorities 
thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free  to  abstain  from 
all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defence ;  and  I  recommend  to  them  that, 
in  all  cases  when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known,  that  such  persons  of  suitable  condi- 
tion, will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of  the  United  States  to  garrison 
forts,  positions,  stations  and  other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in 
said  service. 

And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by 
the  Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment 
of  mankind,  and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of 
the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
r         -J        year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty  three,  and 
of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty- 
seventh. 

Abraham  Lincoln 

By  the  President ;  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State 


APPENDIX  F 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  FOR  INTERVENTION  IN  CUBA 

(Approved  April  20,  1898) 

[From  the  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  XXX,  738] 

Joint  Resolution  For  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  people  of  Cuba,  demanding 
that  the  Government  of  Spain  relinquish  its  authority  and  government  in  the  Island  of 
Cuba,  and  to  withdraw  its  land  and  naval  forces  from  Cuba  and  Cuban  waters,  and 
directing  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  use  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the 
United  States  to  carry  these  resolutions  into  effect. 

Whereas  the  abhorrent  conditions  which  have  existed  for  more  than  three 
years  in  the  Island  of  Cuba,  so  near  our  own  borders,  have  shocked  the  moral 
sense  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  have  been  a  disgrace  to  Christian 
civilization,  culminating,  as  they  have,  in  the  destruction  of  a  United  States 
battle  ship,  with  two  hundred  and  sixty-six  of  its  officers  and  crew,  while  on 
a  friendly  visit  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  and  can  not  longer  be  endured,  as 
has  been  set  forth  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  his  message  to 
Congress  of  April  eleventh,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-eight,  upon  which 
the  action  of  Congress  was  invited :   Therefore, 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  First.  That  the  people  of  the  Island  of 
Cuba  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent. 

Second.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  demand,  and  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  does  hereby  demand,  that  the  Government  of 
Spain  at  once  relinquish  its  authority  and  government  in  the  Island  of  Cuba 
and  withdraw  its  land  and  naval  forces  from  Cuba  and  Cuban  waters. 

Third.  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  hereby  is, 
directed  and  empowered  to  use  the  entire  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  call  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States  the  militia  of 
the  several  States,  to  such  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  these  resolu- 
tions into  effect. 

Fourth.  That  the  United  States  hereby  disclaims  any  disposition  or  inten- 
tion to  exercise  sovereignty,  jurisdiction,  or  control  over  said  Island  except 
for  the  pacification  thereof,  and  asserts  its  determination,  when  that  is 
accomplished,  to  leave  the  government  and  control  of  the  Island  to  its  people, 


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INDEX 


Diacritic  marks  :  a  as  in  late  ;  a  as  in  fat ;  a  as  in  far ;  a  as  in  care  ;  a  as  in  last ;  a  as 
in  fall ;  €,  eh  as  in  cask,  chasm  ;  c  as  in  ice ;  e  as  in  m«  ;  5  as  in  met,  berry ;  e  as  in  veil ; 
e  as  in  term ;  g  as  in  gem ;  g  as  in  go ;  i  as  in  tin ;  i  as  in  police ;  n,  the  French  nasal ; 
6  as  in  note ;  6  as  in  not ;  6  as  in  son ;  6  as  in  for ;  <_>  as  in  do ;  §  as  in  news ;  fh  as  in  the ; 
u  as  in  tune ;  u  as  in  nut;  u,  as  in  rude  (=»o);  u  as  in  full;  u  =  French  u;  y  as  in  my. 
Single  italic  letters  are  silent. 


Abolitionists,  293,  347-351. 

in  election  of  1844,  358. 

underground  railroad,  373,  378. 
Aca'dia,  66,  125,  128,  129. 
Acts  of  Trade,  103  ;  see  Navigation  Acts. 
Adams,  Charles  Francis,  440,  460. 
Adams,  Henry,  530. 
Adams,  John,  biography,  254,  255. 

Constitution,  218. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  157,  153. 

defends  British  soldiers,  142. 

on  democracy,  226. 

President,  254-259,  263. 

Vice  President,  235,  246. 
Adams,  John  Quincy,   President,    310-313, 
330,  332. 

representative  in  Congress,  311,  349. 

Secretary  of  State,  306,  308,  301. 
Adams,  Samuel,  155,  156,  144,  145,  149,  151. 
Agamen'ticus,  60. 
Agriculture,  see  Farming. 
A-gwi-nal'do,  553,  554,  556,  557,  558. 
Aix-la-Cba-pelte',  treaty  of,  127. 
Al-a-bii'ma,  298,  301,  406,  xxx. 
Alabama,  439  ;  claims,  505,  506. 
Al'a-mance,  battle  of,  144. 
A'la-md,  331. 
Alaska,  purchased,  499. 
Al'ba-ny  (al'-)i  settled,  67. 
Albany  Congress,  128. 
Al'be-marle  settlement,  84. 
Al'ger,  Russell  A.,  554. 
Al-gon'quin  Indians,  27,  66. 
Alien  and  Sedition  acts,  256,  257. 
Al'le-ghg-ny  River,  127. 
Allen,  Ethan,  153. 
Xl-]ou-Qz',  Father  Claude  Jean,  69. 
Al-ta-ma-ha'  (al-)  River,  108. 
Amendments  to  federal  Constitution,  23"7, 

238,  259,  492,  495,  503,  509. 
America,  origin  of  name,  35. 
American  party,  388. 


American  system,  of  Clay,  297. 

Am'i-das,  Philip,  40. 

Amnesty,  467,  494,  504. 

Anassthesia,  discovery  of,  429. 

Anarchists,  536. 

Anderson,  Major  Robert,  405,  411,  414. 

An'dersonville  prison,  473. 

Aii'dre,  Major  John,  177. 

An'dros,  Sir  Edmund,  87,  88. 

Annap'olis  (Md.)  Convention,  206. 

Annapolis,  N.S.,  66,  122. 

An't/io-ny,  Susan  B.,  340. 

An-tie'tam,  battle  of,  451. 

Anti-Federalists,  214,  245. 

Anti-masonic  party,  313. 

Antino'mians,  in  Massachusetts,  55. 

Anti-Rent  disturbances,  354. 

Antisiavery  people,  201,  347  ;  see  Slavery. 

A-pii'che  Indians  subdued,  526. 

Appala'chian  Mountains,  20. 

Appomat'tox,  485. 

Architecture,  530,  575 ;  see  Church  buildings, 

and  Houses. 
AVgall,  Capt.  Samuel,  66. 
Argenti'na,  independence  of,  307,  308. 
Arizona,  territory,  501. 
Ar'kan-sa.s,  374,  415,  xxx. 
Arma'da,  Spanish,  41. 
Army,  in  Civil  War,  437,  438,  460,  473. 

in  Revolution,  167,  172,  178,  184. 

in  Spanish  War,  554. 

in  War  of  1812,  279,  280,  283,  286. 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  443,  447-452,  462,  463, 

474,  475,  484. 
Arnold,  Benedict,  154,  170,  177-179. 
A-roos'took  War,  356. 
Art,  230,  530. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  520,  519. 
Articles  of  Confederation,  189,  191,  202-204, 

161,  162,  1S2,  1S3,  260. 
Articles  of  Confederation,  New  England,  61. 
Ag'bury,  Francis,  Bishop,  230. 


INDEX 


XXX111 


Ash'burton  treaty,  856. 

Asia,  mediaeval  trade  with,  14-16,  33. 

A-sien'to,  114. 

Assembly,  colonial,  111,  112,  48. 

Association  of  1774,  150. 

Associations,  573,  574. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  222,  269. 

Asto'ria,  Oregon,  269,  283. 

As'trolabe,  14.- 

Asylums,  338,  339. 

Atlanta,  captured,  478. 

Austin,  Moses  and  Stephen  F.,  380. 

Australian  ballot,  539. 

Ayllon  (Il-yon'),  Lucas  Vasquez  dg,  36. 

A-zm-eg",  discovered,  16. 

Az'tecs,  26,  36. 

Back'woods'men,  193,  194,  568. 
Bacon,  Nathaniel,  84. 
Baker  Island,  561. 
Bal-bo'a,  Vasco  Nunez  de,  36. 
Ballot  reform,  539. 
Bal'ti-more,  city,  220,  283,  415. 
Baltimore,  Lord,  55,  56,  108,  109. 
Bancroft,  George,  342,  425. 
Bank,  United  States,  242,  243. 

second,  304,  318,  319,  329,  335. 
Bank  of  North  America,  196. 
Banks,  national,  442. 

savings,  515. 

state,  224,  318,  334,  335,  428,  442. 
Banks,  Gen.  Nathaniel  P.,  461. 
Baptists,  59  ;  see  Churches. 
Bar'bary  wars,  265. 
Barlow,  Joel,  227. 
Bar'lowe,  Arthur,  40. 
Barnburners,  372. 
Battle  above  the  Clouds,  465. 
Bay'oi*  Man-chac',  265. 
Beane,  William,  143. 
Bear  Flag  Republic,  365. 
Beau're-gard  (bo'),  General,  413,  442,  445. 
Belknap,  William  W.,  507. 
Bell,  Alexander  Graham,  532 
Bell,  John,  402,  403. 
Bennington,  battle  of.  170. 
Ben'tonville,  battle  of,  484. 
Be'ring  Sea  controversy,  546. 
Berkeley,  Sir  William,  80,  84,  92. 
Ber'lin  Decree,  272. 
Bes'se-mer  steel,  518. 
Bethlehem,  Pa.,  82,  518. 
Biddle,  Nicholas,  318. 
Bienville,  Celoron   de   (sa-lo-roN'   d'    bySN 

veT),  127. 
Biglow  Papers,  363,  425 
BMox'i,  124. 

Birney,  James  G.,  847,  358. 
Bishop's  Palace,  143. 
Black,  Jeremiah,  405,  411. 


Black  Hawk  War,  332. 

Black  Hills,  discovery  of  gold  in,  600 

Black.  Warrior,  384. 

Blackboard,  pirate,  104. 

BhVdensburg,  battle  of,  283. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  522,  525,  545,  546,  511,  519. 

Blair,  Montgomery,  412,  413. 

Bland,  Richard  P.,  513. 

Blennerhas'set  Island,  270. 

Blockade  runners,  438,  479. 

Bol'i-var,  Gen.  Simon,  307. 

£o?i  Homme  Richard  (bo-norn're-slmr'), 115. 

Bonne'viUe,  Benjamin  L.  E.,  356. 

Boone,  Daniel,  143,  144,  160. 

Boonsboro,  founded,  160. 

Border  Ruffians,  388. 

Boston,  52,  53,  220,  423,  507,  539. 

in  Revolution,  142,  145,  146,  153,  154,  156. 

Tea  Party,  145,  156. 
Boundaries,  of  colonies,  108,  109. 

of  United   States,  184,  308,  307,  355,  360, 
361,  506. 
Bouquet  (boo-kii'),  Colonel,  132. 
Boxers,  in  China,  561. 
Boycott,  573. 

Braddock,  Gen.  Edward,  129. 
Bradford,  William,  51,  94. 
Bragg,  Gen.  Braxton,  445,  463-466. 
Bran'dy-wine,  battle  of,  171. 
Brant,  Joseph,  179. 

Brazil',  discovered,  35;  independent,  808. 
Breck'in-ridge,  John  C,  402,  403. 
Brg-dii',  peace  of,  73. 
Bridges,  223,  517,  539. 
British,  126  ;  see.  Great  Britain. 
Brook  Farm  community,  341,  342. 
Brooks,  Preston,  389. 
Brown,  Gen.  Jacob,  283,  286. 
Brown,  John,  388,  397,  398. 
Brush,  Charles  F.,  532. 
Bryan,  William  J.,  547,  557,  579. 
Bryant,  William  Cullen,  342. 
Bue^-an'an,  James,  384,  389,  394,  395,  404, 

405,  410,  416. 
Bu'ell,  Gen.  Don  Carlos,  444,  445. 
Buena  Vis'ta,  battle  of,  364. 
Buffalo  Exposition,  545. 
Bull  Run,  442,  443,  450. 
Bunker  Hill,  battle  of,  154. 
Bur-goyne',  Gen.  John,  170,  171. 
Burke,' Edmund,  135,  146,  110. 
Bur'lin-game  treaty,  500. 
Burns,  Anthony,  378. 
Burnside,  Gen.  Ambrose  E.,  451,  463,  466. 
Burr,  Aaron,  258,  270,  271. 
Butler,  Gen.  Benjamin  F.,  455,  447. 
Butler,  John,  179. 
Butte,  Montana,  500. 
Bvl'lynge,  80. 
Byrd,  Col.  William,  94,  100. 


XXXIV 


INDEX 


Cabinet,  287. 
Cable,  submarine,  518. 
Cable,  George  W.,  530. 
Cab'ot,  John  and  Sebastian,  35,  34. 
Ca-braT,  Pedro  Alvarez  d§.  33.  34. 
Caho'kia,  124,  181. 
Cal-hot*n\  John  C,  321,  306. 
in  Congress,  279,  294,  304. 
nullification,  313,  319-322. 
slavery,  345,  374. 
tariff,  304,  312. 

Tyler's  Secretary  of  State,  357. 
Vice  President,  310. 
California,  acquired,  361,  36.0-367. 
gold  in,  369,  370. 
slavery  question,  372-375. 
Calvert,  George  and  Cecil,  55,  56. 
Calvin,  John,  96. 
Camden,  battle  of,  178. 
Cam'er-on,  Simon,  412,  437. 
Camp  meeting,  232,  296. 
Canada,  66,  74,  126,  130,  154. 

in  War  of  1812,  280-284,  286. 
Canals,  224,  294,  295,  326,    325,    534;    see 

Panama  Canal. 
Cape  Bret'on,  126,  130. 
Capital  of  U.S.,  238,  239,  283,  377,  422. 
Car-neg'ie,  Andrew,  529. 
Carolina,  84,  85,  108. 
Carpetbaggers,  504,  505. 
C&r'roll,  Charles,  149. 
Car'ter-et,  Sir  George,  80. 
Car-tha-ge'na,  41,  126. 
Cartier,  Jacques  (zhak  kar-tya'),  38,  34. 
Carver,  John,  51. 
Ca'sa"  dgCon-trac-ta-ci-6n',  74. 
Cass,  Lewis,  372,  380,  405. 
Catholics,  55,  56,  69  ;  see  Churches. 
Caucus,  309,  540. 
Ca-vi'tfi,  553. 

Ca-yu'gas,  68  ;  see  Iroquois. 
Cedar  Creek,  battle  of,  479,  480. 
Census,  see  Population. 
Centennial  Exposition,  511. 
Central  America,  26,  37,  808 ;  see  Panama. 
Cer  ro  Gor'do,  battle  of,  364. 
Cervera  (thar-va'ra),  Admiral,  555. 
Cham'bersburg,  captured,  475. 
Champion  Hill,  battle,  461. 
Cham-plain',  Samuel  de,  66. 
Chan'cellorsville,  battle  of,  462. 
Charles  I.,  49,  52,  60,  62. 
Charles  II.,  77,  84. 
Charleston,  85,  125,  220,  422. 
exposition,  545. 

in  Civil  War,  405,  413,  466,  484. 
in  Revolution,  167,  177,  179. 
Charlestown,  53. 
Charts,  Ft.,  125. 
Chase,  Philander,  Bishop,  295. 


Chase,  Sal'mon  P.,  Chief  Justice,  497. 
Secretary  of  Treasury,  412,  480. 
Senator,  375,  887. 
Chase,  Samuel,  268. 
Chat'Aam,  Earl  of  (Pitt),  129,  135,  141,  165, 

166. 
Chattanoo'ga,  in  Civil  War,  463-466. 
Cher-o-kees',  27,  132,  133,  179,  331,  332. 
Cherry  Valley,  N.Y.,  180. 
Ches'a-peake,  272,  280,  281. 
Chi-ca'go,  289,  333,  507,  539. 

portage,  24,  71,  72. 

World's  Fair,  545. 
Chickamau'ga,  battle  of,  463,  464. 
Chick 'a-saws,  27,  132,  332. 
Chi'lg,  difficulty  with,  522,  545. 

independence  of,  307,  308. 
Chillicoth'e,  244. 
China,  Boxer  outbreak,  561,  562. 

treaty  with,  371. 
Chinese  immigration,  500,  518,  519. 
Chip'pa-wa,  battle  of,  283. 
Choc'taws,  27,  132,  332. 
Christian  Commission,  470. 
Christmas  Island,  561. 
Church  buildings,  83,  96,  230-232,  529,  530. 
Churches,  96,  97,  116,  230-232,  340,  341,  426. 

in  West,  295,  296. 
Church 'ill,  Winston,  530. 
Ci'bo-la,  cities  of,  37. 
Cincinna'ti,  244,  423. 

Cities,  220,  422,  423,  514,  515,  538,  539,  575. 
Civil  Eights  Acts,  495,  504. 
Civil  service,  263,  318. 

reform,  503,  520,  538,  580. 
Civil  War,  413-422,  433-489. 

cost  of,  487,  488. 

northern  opposition  to,  472. 
Clark,  George  Rogers,  180,  181. 
Clark,  William,  268,  269. 
Classified  service,  520,  538,  580. 
Clay,  Henry,  297,  306. 

compromises,  299,  319,  374. 

presidential  candidate,  309,  310,  320,  358. 

tariff,  304,  312,  319. 

U.  S.  Bank,  319. 

War  of  1812,  279. 
Clay'bourne,  William,  56. 
Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  866,  367,  393,  522, 

582. 
Clem'ens,  S.  L.,  530. 
Clermont,  274. 
Cleveland,  244,  423,  428,  518. 
Cleveland,   Grover,  525,  526,  537,   540,   541, 

543,  546,  560. 
Cliff  dwellings,  25. 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  294. 
Clinton,  George,  217,  270,  284. 
Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  174,  177. 
Coal  mining,  289,  427,  428. 


INDEX 


XXXV 


Coinage,  242,  334,  508,  513,  548. 
Cold  Harbor,  battle  of,  474,  475. 
Colleges,  93,  116,  228,  296,  339,  423,  424,  528, 

529,  570. 
Co-16m'bi-a,  independence  of,  307,  308. 

treaties  with,  366,  582. 
Colonial  trade,  74,  75,  103,  114  ;  see  Naviga- 
tion Acts. 
Colonies,  English,  40,  45-63,  74-163. 

government,   75,   103,    110-113,    118. 

life  and  industry,  91-105,  114-116. 

people,  91. 

See  names  of  colonies. 
Col-o-rii'do,  admitted,  501,  xxx. 
Columbia,  B.C.,  captured,  484. 
Columbia  College,  116. 
Columbia  River  discovered,  268. 
Columbian  exposition,  in  Chicago,  545. 
Columbus,  Christopher,  31-35,  43. 
Commerce,  colonial,  101-105,  114. 

growth,  222,  223,  233,  303,  304,  392. 

Indian  trade,  104. 

neutral,  250-252,  271-273,  278. 

Pacific,  370,  371. 

under  Confederation,  199. 

under  Constitution,  211,  218,  242,  572  ;  see 
Tariff,  and  Interstate  commerce. 
Commercial  panics  and  crises,  311,  334,  335, 

393,  507,  543. 
Commercial  treaties,  197,  252,  272,  286,  303, 

330,  371,  545,  560. 
Committees  of  Correspondence,  145. 
Communal  societies,  340-342. 
Compromise  of  1820,  299. 
Compromise  of  1850,  374-377. 
Compromises  of  the  Constitution,  210. 
Concord,  battle  of,  151,  152. 
Confederacy,  Southern,  406-422,  433-489. 

government,  406,  439,  440. 

military  strength,  436,  437. 
Confederates,  punishment  of,  491-493. 
Confederation,  189-204. 

defects,  202-204. 
Confiscation,  in  Civil  War,  455,  456. 

in  Revolution,  166,  185. 
Congress,  Albany,  128. 
Congress,  Continental,  149-163,  172,  179,  182, 

185. 
Congress,  Stamp-Act,  140. 
Congress  of  the  Confederation,  189-206,  213, 

235. 
Congress  under  the   Constitution,   211-213, 
235-243. 

powers  over  slavery,  383. 

reconstruction  by,  494-497,  503. 
Connect'icut,  colony,  57,  60,  77,  79,   87-89, 
107. 

western  claims,  182,  192,  244. 
Connecticut  Compromise,  210,  211. 
Constitution,  280,  281. 


Constitution  of  U.S.,  xiv. 

amendments  to,  237,  238,  259,  492,  495, 
503,504. 

analysis  of,  212,  213. 

making  of,  206-218. 

ratification,  213-217. 

theories  of,  322,  323. 
Constitutional  Union  party,  402. 
Constitutions  of  the  states,  159, 160,  422,  540. 
Continental  Congress,  First,  149,  150. 

Second,  152, 153,  156-163,  172, 179,  182,  185. 
Contraband,  250. 
"Contrabands,"  slaves,  455,  456. 
Convention,  federal,  206-214,  217,  218. 
Conventions,  party,  226,  320. 
Conway  Cabal,  173. 
Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  342. 
Cooper,  Peter,  327. 
"  Copperheads,"  472. 
Corinth,  captured,  445. 
Corn-wal'lis,  Lord  Charles,  177-179. 
Co-ro-na'do  (-tho),  Francisco  Vasquez  dg,  87. 
Corporations,  224,  515,  516,  532,  533,  571. 

control  of,  535,  548,  581. 
Cor'tez,  Hernando,  36. 
Corwin  amendment,  409. 
Cotton,  221,  222,  420,  430,  527. 
Cotton  gin,  222. 
Council,  colonial,  111. 
Council  for  New  England,  52,  53,  57,  59. 
County  government,  112,  297. 
Cou-reurs'  de  bois  (bwa),  74. 
Courts,  111,  112,  238. 
Cowpens,  battle  of,  178. 
Crater,  at  Petersburg,  475. 
Crawford,  William  H.,  306,  309,  310. 
Creeks,  27,  132,  331,  332. 

war  with,  279. 
Cve-dW  Mo-bi-lier'  (-lya'),  507. 
Crevecoeur  (krav-ker'),  Ft.,  72. 
Crime  of  1873,  508. 
Criminals,  225,  338. 
Crit'ten-den,  John  J.,  410. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  60. 
Crown  Point,  fortified,  126. 
Cro-zii*',  Anthony,  124,  125. 
Cuba,  proposed  annexation,  377,  378,  384. 

relations  to  U.S.,  551-560. 

revolts  against  Spain,  507,  521,  551-557. 
Cum'berland  Road,  294. 
Currency,  see  Coinage,  and  Paper  money. 
Cush'ing,  Caleb,  371. 
Custer,  Gen.  George  A.,  502. 
Cutler,  Manasseh,  195. 
Cut'tyhunk,  42. 
Cwy-a-ho'ga  River,  23. 

Dakota  territory,  501. 

Dale,  Sir  Thomas,  governor,  48. 

Danish  West  Indies,  499. 


XXXVI 


INDEX 


Dare,  Virginia,  40. 

Da-ri-en',  town  in  South  America,  30. 
Dart'mouth  College,  116,  306. 
Dav'enport,  Kev.  John,  57. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  biography,  439,  440. 
Buchanan  and,  404. 
captured,  486. 
held  for  treason,  491,  497. 
President  of  confederacy,  406,  439,  440. 
resolutions  of  1860,  401. 
secession  views,  408,  409. 
Deane,  Silas,  174. 
Dear' born,  Ft.,  289. 
Debs,  Eugene  V.,  537,  583. 
Debtors'  laws,  200,  225,  338. 
Declaration  of  Independence,  157-159,  xi. 
Declaration  of  Rights,  149. 
Deerfield,  attacked,  125. 
De  Grtisse,  Admiral,  179. 
De  Kalb',  Baron,  167,  178. 
Delaware,  68,  81,  84,  107,  xxx. 
Delfs-ha'ven,  50. 

De  Lo'mg,  Spanish  minister,  552. 
Democracy,  in  America,  110,  226,  227,  316, 

421. 
Democratic  Clubs,  250,  253. 
Democratic  party,  earliest,  246,  253 ;  see  Re- 
publican party  (Democratic). 
Jacksonian.  336,  380. 
recent  issues,  525,  540,  541,  547,  588. 
slavery  and,  388,  389,  401-408. 
Denver,  founded,  427. 
Dependencies,  government  of,  575,  576. 
Deposit  Act  of  1836,  334. 
De§-er-eY,  state  of,  394. 
Dfi  So'to,  Ferdinando,  37. 
De*  Plains'  River,  24. 
D'Es-taiNp,  Admiral,  177. 
De'troit',  founded.  124. 

in  War  of  1812,  280,  282. 
Dew'ey.  Admiral  George,  558,  554. 
Diaz  (de'sis),  Bartholomew,  81. 
Dickinson,  John,  141,  149,  161,  207. 
Dingley  tariff,  547. 
Dinwid'die,  Gov.  Robert,  127. 
Direct  tax,  442,  541. 
Discovery  of  America,  17,  31-43. 
aids  to,  14. 
causes,  13-16. 
District  of  Columbia,  239,  377 
Dix,  Dorothea,  338,  339. 
Dixie's  Land,  109. 
DSn'elson,  Ft.,  captured,  444,  476. 
Don'gan,  Gov.  Thomas,  80. 
Dooley,  Mr.,  530. 
Dorr,  Thomas  W.,  855. 
Doiig'las,  Stephen  A.,  biography,  386. 
Lincoln  and,  396,  397,  416. 
presidential  candidate,  401-403,  8S0,  389. 
slavery  views,  3S5-387,  395-397,  401. 


Draft,  in  North,  437,  460  ;  riots,  472. 

in  South,  473. 
Drake,  Sir  Francis,  39-41. 
Died  Scott  decision,  391,  392. 
Dress,  92,  102,  138,  139,  228. 
Du-ane',  William  John,  329. 
Dun-more',  Gov.  John  Murray,  144. 
Dun?ie,  Finley  Peter,  530. 
Du-pont',  Admiral  S.  F.,  443. 
Du-quesne'  (-kan'),  Ft.,  127,  129. 
Dustin,  Hannah,  124. 
Dutch,  colonies,  67,  68,  73,  78. 

freedom  from  Spain,  39,  67,  68. 

in  Connecticut  valley,  57,  60. 

in  Revolutionary  War,  175. 

settlers,  67,  80,  91,  220. 
Dutch  West  India  Company,  67,  78, 

Eads,  Capt.  James  B.,  534. 
Early,  Gen.  Jubal  A.,  475,  477. 
Eaton,  Theophilus,  57. 
Ed'ison,  Thomas  A.,  532. 
Education,  92,  93,  227,  228,  839,  340,  423,  424, 
528,  529,  569,  570. 
in  Northwest,  296. 
Edwards,  Rev.  Jonathan,  115. 
Elections,  see  Voters,  and  Presidential  elec- 
tions. 
Electoral  Commission,  512. 
Electoral  Count  Act,  538. 
Electric  devices,  532,  570  ;  see  Telegraph. 
El'i-ot,  John,  86. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  40. 

Emancipation  proclamations,  459,  492,  xxvii. 
Embargo  Act,  273,  275. 
Em'erson,  Ralph  Waldo,  425,  342. 
Emigrant  aid  companies,  3S7. 
England,  changes  in  government,  29,  60,  77, 
88,  126. 
claim  to  North  America,  42,  73,  75. 
colonies  of,  see  Colonies,  and  Colonial, 
discoveries,  85,  38,  89,  42,  43. 
war  with  France,  66,  122-183. 
war  with  Spain,  38-48. 
See  also  Great  Britain. 
Enumerated  goods,  108. 
Eph'rata,  Pa.,  settled,  82. 
Equality,  576. 
Era  of  good  feeling,  306. 
Er  icsson,  John,  447. 
Erie  Canal,  294,  295. 
Er'ikson,  Leif,  31. 
Er'skine,  British  minister,  277. 
European  basis  of  American  history,  13-17, 

28,  29. 
Ev'ans,  Oliver,  222,  225. 
Ew'ell,  Gen.  Richard  S.,  477. 
Executive  Departments,  organized,  287. 
Ex'eter,  N.H.,  settled,  59. 
Exploration,  of  coast,  see  Discovery. 


INDEX 


XXXV11 


Exploration,  of  interior,  268,  289,  356,  501. 
Kxpositions,  511,  545. 
Express  companies,  430. 

Fairbanks,  Charles  W.,  583. 
Fair  Oaks,  battle  of,  448. 
Farmer's  Alliance,  542. 
Farming,  98-100,  221,  420,  421,  527. 

machinery,  326,  428,  570. 
Far'ragut,  David  G.,  446,  478,  479. 
Federal  Convention,  206-214,  217,  218. 
Federalist,  214. 

Federalist  party,  214,  246,  254-259,  306. 
Fer'giison,  Maj.  Patrick,  178. 
Filip'i'nos,  563,  569. 
Fillmore,  Millard,  375,  378,  389. 
Finance,  in  Civil  War,  441,  442. 

in  Revolution,  1S5,  186. 

in  War  of  1812,  284. 

recent,  498,  513. 

under  Confederation,  196,  199. 

under  Constitution,  213,  'JW-243. 

See  also  Public  Debt,  Tariff,  etc. 
Fire  eaters,  384. 
Fisher,  Ft.,  captured,  479. 
Fisheries,  101,  184,  222,  303,  506. 
Fiske,  John,  530. 
Fitch,  John,  225. 
Y\tz-hugh\  Col.  William,  100. 
Five  Nations,  see  Iroquois. 
Flag,  Confederate,  466. 

United  States,  189,  159. 
Fletcher,  Gov.  Benjamin,  105. 
Florida,  British,  130,  131,  153,  181,  184. 

discovery  of,  36. 

French  in,  38. 

purchased  by  U.S.,  307. 

Seminole  war,  332. 

Spanish,  36,  38,  130,  184,  307. 

state  in  U.S.,  374,  xxx. 
Floyd,  John  B.,  405. 
Foote,  Andrew  H.,  444. 
Forests  of  United  States,  20,  22,  527. 
Forrest,  Gen.  Nathan  B.,  466. 
Fort    Astoria,    Sumter,    etc.,   see    Astoria, 

Sumter,  etc. 
Fort  Wayne,  24,  290. 
Forty-niners,  370. 

Foundations  of  American  History,  13-29. 
Fox,  Charles  James,  135. 
France,  ally  of  U.S.,  174-179,  184,  185,  187, 
249. 

changes  in  government,  29,  249,  257. 

claim  to  North  America,  42,  73,  75. 

colonies,  65,  66,  69-75,  130,  265-267. 

depredations  on  U.S.  commerce,  251,  255, 
257,  272,  273,  278,  330. 

discoveries,  37,  38,  66,  69-73. 

Mexican  empire,  499 

spoliation  claims,  330. 


France,  treaties  with,  174,  257. 

war  with  England,  66,  122-133,  174-187, 
249,  271. 

war  with  Iroquois,  66. 

war  with  U.S.,  257. 

X.  Y.  Z.  controversy,  255,  256. 
Franklin,  battle  of,  484. 
Franklin,  state  of,  194. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  biography,  117,  118. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  157. 

Federal  Convention,  207,  210,  212. 

minister  to  France,  174,  1S3,  185. 

plan  of  union,  128,  161. 

writings  of,  117,  229. 
Fraternity,  576. 
Freebooters,  38,  39. 

Free  coinage,  513  ;  see  Coinage  and  Silver. 
Free  Democrats,  380,  389. 
Freedman's  Bureau,  492,  503. 
Freeman's  Farm,  battles  at,  170. 
Freeport  doctrine,  397. 
Free-soil  party,  372,  380. 
Fre-mont',  John  C,  357,  365,  389,  456,  480, 
French,  see  France. 
French  and  Indian  War,  127-131. 
French  settlers,  85,  91,  124,  125. 
Fre-neau'(-no'),  Philip,  228. 
Frob'isher,  Sir  Martin,  38. 
Fron'te-nac,  Ft.,  71,  129. 
FroN-te-nac',  Governor,  71. 
Fugitive  Slave  Act,  of  1793,  273,  373. 

of  1850,  377-379,  459. 
Fugitive  slaves,  373,  378,  379. 
Fulton,  Robert,  274. 
Fur  trade,  68,  73,  86,  222. 

Gabriel  insurrection,  347. 

Gadsden  Purchase,  566. 

Gage,  Gen.  Thomas,  146,  150,  153. 

GaT  latin,  Albert,  262,  277. 

Q&'ma,  Viis'co  da,  33,  43. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  520,  464. 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  348,  349. 

Gaspe  Peninsula,  20. 

Gaspee,  144. 

Gates,  Gen.  Horatio,  170,  171,  173,  178. 

Genet  (zh'-na'),  Edmond,  249,  250. 

Gen'o-a,  trade  routes,  15. 

Geography  of  U.S.,  17-23,  29. 

George  III.,  135,  136,  151.  165. 

Georgia,  colony,  108,  132,  177. 

Indian  troubles,  244,  331,  332. 

western  claims,  182,  192,  245. 
German   settlers,  82,  91,  108,  125,  148,   193, 

220,  500. 
Germantown,  founded,  82  ;  battle,  171. 
Ge-ron'i-mo,  Indian  chief.  28. 
Ger'ry,  Elbridge,  212,  29b. 
Gerrymander,  316. 
Gettysburg,  battle  of,  462,  463. 


XXXV111 


INDEX 


GAent,  treaty  of,  285. 

Gid'dings,  Joshua  R.,  349. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  38,  40. 

Girty,  Simon,  180. 

Glad'stone,  on  the  Confederacy,  457. 

Gna'den-hut-ten,  183. 

Goffe,  William,  77. 

Gold,  mining,  369,  370,  427,  500. 

money,  see  Coinage. 
Good  Hope,  Ft.,  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  57,  60. 
Good  'year,  Charles,  429. 
Gordon,  Gen.  John  B.,  477. 
Gor'ges,  Ferdinando,  60. 
Gorman,  Arthur  P.,  543. 
Gor  such,  378. 

Gosnold,  Bartholomew,  42,  46. 
G«mld,  Jay,  533. 

Government,  colonial,  75,  103,  110-113,  118; 
see  names  of  colonies. 

dependencies,  575,  576. 

military,  471,  497,  503. 

state,  160,  316,  422,  538-540,  575. 

territorial,  195. 

U.  S.,  1S9-218,  235-243,  574,  575. 
Governors,  colonial,  111,  112,  153. 
Gra-na'da,  17. 
Grangers,  512. 
Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  biography,  475,  476,  503. 

campaigns  in  East,  474-476,  4S5,  486. 

campaigns  in  West,  444-446,  460,  461,  465. 

President,  502-508,  501. 

presidential  candidate,  502,  505,  511,  519. 

protects  Confederates,  491. 
Gray,  Capt.  Robert,  268. 
Grayson  ordinance,  192. 
Great  Britain,  126;  see  England. 

boundary  controversies,  355,  361,  506. 

depredations  on  U.S.  commerce,  250,  251, 
271-273. 

difficulties  with  (17S3-SS),  197-199. 

during  Civil  War,  440,  441,  459,  460. 

Isthmian  canal,  366,  367,  393,  582. 

treaties  (1783)  1S4,  (1794)  251,  252,  (1S14) 
285,  (181S)303,  (1S71)506. 

Venezuelan  boundary,  546. 

wars  with  France,  126-133,  174-187,  249, 
271. 

wars  with  U.S.,  150-187,  277-287. 
Great  Plains,  21. 
Greeley,  Horace,  343,  459,  505. 
Green,  Duff,  318. 
Greenback  Labor  party,  513. 
Greenback  party,  512. 
Greenbacks,  47 i,  498,  508,  513. 
Green«,  Gen.  Nathanael,  178,  186. 
Greenville,  treaty  of,  244. 
Grenville,  George,  138. 
Griffon  (gre-foNr),  71. 
Guam  (gwam),  557. 
Gua-na-han',  32,  I 


Guerriere  (gar-ryar'),  280. 
GVi-a'na,  Dutch,  68. 
Gwil'ford,  battle  of,  178. 
Gu/ten-berg,  printer,  14. 

Hadley,  Mass.,  attacked,  86. 

Hague  Conference,  561. 

Hail  Columbia,  256. 

Hai'ti,  33,  133,  266. 

Hak'luyt,  Richard,  42. 

Halleck,  Gen.  Henry  W.,  445,  450,  474. 

Ham'ilton,  Alexander,  and  Adams,  258. 
biography,  239,  240. 
Burr  and,  270. 

Constitution,  206,  207,  210,  214,  217. 
Jefferson  and,  239,  243,  245,  246. 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  239-243. 
Washington  and,  253. 

Hamilton,  Henry,  180,  181. 

Hampton  Roads  conference,  486. 

Hancock,  John,  140,  222,  142,  150,  215,  216. 

Hancock,  Wintieid  S.,  519,  520. 

Hanna,  Marcus  A.,  563,  583. 

Harmar,  Gen.  Josiah,  243. 

Harnden,  William  F.,  430. 

Harpers  Ferry,  397,  451. 

Harriman,  E.  H.,  533. 

Harris,  Joel  Chandler,  530. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  540,  541,  546. 

Harrison,  William  H.,  279,  281,  282,  286,  353 

Harte,  Bret,  530. 

Hartford,  57,  60 ;  Convention,  285. 

Harvard  College,  93. 

Hat'teras,  Ft.,  captured,  443. 

Ha- van 'a,  captured  by  British,  130. 

Ha'ver-Aill,  Mass.,  attacked,  124. 

Ha-wrti'ian  Islands,  370,  560,  561. 

Hawkins,  Sir  John,  39. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  425,  342. 

Hay,  John,  557,  562,  582. 

Hay-Pauncefote  treaty,  582. 

Hayes,  Rufti'erford  B.,  511-513,  519,  521. 

Hayne,  Robert  Y.,  319. 

Henderson,  Richard,  160. 

Hen'nepin,  Father,  72. 

Henry,  Ft.,  captured,  444. 

Henry,  Patrick,  137,  140,  149,  155,  180,  216. 

Henry  VII.,  35. 

Henry  the  Navigator.  Prince,  16. 

Her'kimer,  Gen.  Nicholas,  170. 

Hessian  soldiers,  1(30,  169,  170. 

Hill,  (Jen.  A.  P.,  and  Gen.  D.  H.,  477. 

Hill,  James  J.,  533. 

Hilton  Head,  443,  444. 

Hispanio'la,  33. 

Hobson,  Lieut.  Richmond  P.,  555. 

Ho-cheTa-ga  (St.  Lawrence),  38. 

Hoe,  Richard,  429. 

Holland,  or  the  Netherlands,  see  Dutch. 

HoZmeg,  Oliver  Wendell,  425. 


INDEX 


XXXIX 


Holy  Alliance,  307,  308. 

Homestead  Act,  500. 

Hood,  Gen.  John  B.,  478,  484. 

Hooker,  Gen.  Joseph,  462,  465. 

Hooker,  Rev.  Thomas,  57. 

Hopkins,  Esek,  175. 

Hopkinson,  Joseph,  256. 

House  of  Representatives,  211,235,  538,  xxx. 

Houses,  91,  92,  143,  223,  230,  295. 

Hous'tdn,  Sam,  331,  406,  408. 

Howe,  Elias,  429. 

Howe,  Sir  William,  167-172,  174. 

Howells,  W.  D.,  530. 

Howland  Island,  561. 

Hudson,  Henry,  67,  73. 

Hudson  Bay,  73,  74,  125. 

Hudson  River,  explored,  67. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  73. 

Hu'gwe-not  colonists,  38,  85,  91,  143,  220. 

Hull,  Gen.  William,  280. 

Humanitarian  reform,  338-351. 

Hunter,  Gen.  David,  456. 

Hurons,  Indians,  69. 

Hutchinson,  Anne,  55,  59. 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  140,  144,  146. 

t-ber-vil/e',  Sieur  (syer)  d',  124. 
I'daho,  501,  527,  xxx. 
Illinois',  182,  298,  301,  xxx. 

French  in,  72,  73. 
Mo-i'lo,  557. 

Immigration,  333,  419,  500,  536. 
Impeachment  of  President  Johnson,  497. 
Impending  Crisis,  401. 
Implied  powers,  213,  243,  246,  267,  306. 
Impressments,  251,  271,  280,  285. 
Incas,  26. 

Income  tax,  442,  544. 
Indented  servants,  99. 
Indents,  185. 
Independence,  155-160. 
Independent  treasury,  335,  359. 
Independents  (sect),  49,  60. 
Indian  Territory  established,  332. 
Indian  Wars,  in  aid  of  French,  122-125,  127- 
129 

in  New  England,  57,  58,  86,  87,  125. 

in  New  York,  78. 

in  Virginia,  48,  84. 

Pontiac's,  132. 

with  U.S.  (1789-94)  243,   244,  (1811)  278, 
279,  (1832)  332,  (1S72-76),  501,  (1886)526. 
Indiana,  state,  298.  301,  xxx. 

territory,  244,  273,  298. 
Indians,  aboriginal  life,  23-28. 

behavior  in  slavery,  99. 

controversy  with  Georgia,  331,  332. 

government,  28. 

in  Revolution,  167.  170,  179,  180,  183. 

relations  with  whites,  74,  75,  568,  569. 


Indians,  removal  of,  331,  332,  568. 

Severalty  Act,  526. 

trade,  104. 

"tribes,"  28. 

warfare,  27, 28,  see  Indian  Wars. 

See  also  names  of  tribes. 
Industrial  exhibitions,  511,  545. 
Industries,  221-225,  323,  427-431,  570. 

in  South,  527,  528. 
Initiative,  540. 
Insane,  care  of,  225,  339. 
Insurance  companies,  515. 
Intercolonial  wars,  122-133. 
Internal  improvements,   293,  294,  326,  327, 

533,  534. 
Interstate  commerce,  199,  534,  535. 
Intolerable  Acts,  146. 
Inventions,  222,  224,  225,  323,  326,  428,  429, 

530-532,  570. 
I'owa,  374,  xxx. 
Iron,  289.  323,  427,  428,  518,  528. 
Ir-o-quoi*',  68,  69,  27,  66,  123,  129,  132,  179. 

180. 
Irrigation,  526,  527. 
Irving,  Washington,  342. 
Isabella,  town  in  Haiti,  33. 
Isabella  of  Castile,  16,31,32. 
Island  No.  10,  captured,  444. 
Isthmian  Canal,  366,  367,  393,  499,  581,  5S2. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  biography,  310,  317. 

general,  279,  283,  286,  307. 

President,  316-320,  327-336. 

presidential  candidate,  310,  313,  320. 
Jackson,  Dr.  Charles  T.,  429. 
Jackson,  James,  277. 
Jackson,   Gen.  Thomas  J.   ("Stonewall"), 

442,  449,  450,  462,  477. 
Jamfu'ca,  33,  60. 
James,  Capt.  George  S.,  414. 
James  II.  of  England,  87,  88. 
Jamestown,  47-49,  84. 
Japan,  treaty  with,  371. 
Jasper,  Sergeant,  167,  169. 
Java,  281. 
Jay,  John,  149,  183,  200,  214,  238. 

treaty  with  Great  Britain,  251,  252. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  biography,  261,  262. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  157. 

Hamilton  and,  239,  243,  245,  246. 

Kentucky  Resolutions,  256. 

on  National  Bank,  243. 

on  slavery,  226. 

on  treaty  with  France,  249. 

ordinance  for  western  territory,  194. 

President,  258,  261-277. 

Vice  President,  254. 

Washington  and,  253. 

writings  of,  229. 
Jesuits  in  America,  66,  69,  71. 


xl 


INDEX 


Jews,  97,  231. 

Jogues  (zbog),  Father  Isaac,  69. 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  529. 
Johnson,  Andrew,  governor,  444. 

President,  494,  495,  497. 

Vice  President,  480. 
Johnson,  Sir  William,  123,  129,  132. 
Johnston,  Gen.  Albert  Sidney,  445. 
Johnston,  Gen.  Joseph  E.,  478,  442,  448,  477 

484,  4S6. 
Joliet  (zho-lya'),  Louis,  71. 
Jones,  John  Paul,  175. 
Juan  (hoo-an')  dg  Fu/ca,  Strait  of,  23. 

Ka-naw'/ta  River,  144. 
Kan'kakee  River,  72. 
Kansas,  387,  388,  395,  407,  xxx. 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  387. 
Karl-sef  nT,  31. 
Kaskas'kia,  124,  181. 
K«ar'ney,  Dennis,  519. 
Kear'ny,  Stephen  W.,  364. 
Kemble,  Fanny,  343,  344. 
Ken-e-saw'  Mountain,  battle  of,  477. 
Kent  Island  controversy,  56. 
Kentucky,  in  Revolution,  180,  181. 

settled,   143,   144,  160,  161,  183,   193,   194, 
293,  301. 

state,  245,  xxx. 
Kentucky  Resolutions,  256,  257. 
Key,  Francis  S.,  283. 
Kidd,  Capt.  William,  105. 
King  George's  War,  126. 
King  Philip's  War,  86,  87. 
King  William's  War,  122. 
Kings  Mountain,  battle  of,  178. 
Kitchen  Cabinet  of  Jackson,  318. 
Knights  of  Labor,  519. 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  472. 
Know-nothings,  388. 
Knox,  Henry,  287. 
Knoxville,  in  Civil  War,  463,  466. 
Koo'te-nai  River,  360. 
Kos-ci-iis'ko,  Thaddeus,  167. 
Ku  Klux  Klan,  505. 

Labor.  99,  100,  221,  428,  518,  519,  535-537, 

570-572. 
La-chine'  Rapids,  named.  38. 
Ladies'  aid  societies,  470. 
La-drones',  discovered,  36. 
La-fa-yeW,  Marquis  de,  167,  179,  186. 
Laird  rams,  460. 
Lake  Erie,  battle  of,  281. 
Lii  Pla'ta,  independence  of,  8B7,  308. 
La  Sal/e',  Robert  Cavalier,  Siewr  de,  70-73. 
Laudonniere  (lo-do-nyar'),  38. 
Laurens,  Henry,  183,  206. 
Law,  John,  125. 
Lawrence,  Kan.,  sacked,  388. 


Leffd'ville,  Colo.,  500. 

Le  Boewf,  Ft.,  127. 

Lecomp'ton  constitution,  895. 

Lee,  Annah,  231. 

Lee,  Gen.  Charles,  169,  174. 

Lee,  Fitzhugh,  552. 

Lee,  Gen.  Henry,  178. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry,  157. 

Lee,  Gen.  Robert  E.,  biography,  476,  477. 

captures  Brown,  398. 

in  Civil  War,  448-452,  462,   463,   474-477, 
485,  486. 
Legislature,  colonial,  111 ;  see  Government. 
Leif  the  Lucky,  31. 
Leis'ler,  Jacob,  89. 
Le'land  Stanford  University,  529. 
Lg-on',  Pon'cg  (-thu)  dg,  36. 
Leopard,  272,  273. 
Lesseps,  Ferdinand  de,  521. 
Lewis,  Meriwether,  268,  269. 
Lexington,  battle  of,  151,  152. 
Libby  prison,  473. 
Liberal  Republicans,  505. 
Li-be 'ri-a,  298. 

Liberty,  568,  569,  572,  573,  576. 
Liberty,  142. 
Liberty  party,  358,  372. 
Libraries  founded,  340,  529. 
Life,  American  colonial,  91-105. 

during  Civil  War,  470-473. 

in  1780-1800,  220-233. 

in  1861,  420-431. 

in  the  South,  343,  421,  424,  473. 

in  the  West,  292-296.  301,  333. 

Indian,  23-28. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  biography,  396,  457,  458. 

death,  487. 

debates  with  Douglas,  396,  397. 

elected  President,  403,  481. 

emancipation,  456-459,  493. 

on  secession,  409,  410,  412. 

on  the  Union,  159. 

President,  411-414,  433,  438,  441.  456-459, 
474,  486,  493,  497. 

representative  in  Congress,  363,  373. 
Lincoln,  Gen.  Benjamin,  177. 
Lin'otype  machine,  531. 
Literature,   93-96,    105,   228,   229,   842,    343, 

424-426,  530. 
Livingston,  Robert  R.,  157,  266,  267,  269. 
Local  government,  112,  113. 

in  West.  296,  297. 

See  aUo  Cities. 
Locke,  John,  85. 
Logan,  Indian  chief,  144. 
London  Company,  45-50. 
Long,  Maj.  Stephen  H.,  356. 
Long  Island,  battle  of,  167-169. 

settled,  57,  67,  79. 
Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  424. 


INDEX 


Xli 


Longstreet,  Gen.  James,  463,  477. 

Lookout  Mountain,  battle,  465. 

"  Loose  Construction,"  246. 

Lo'pgz  (-pas),  in  Cuba,  378. 

Lord  Dunmore's  War,  144. 

Lords  of  Trade,  77,  103,  137. 

Louisburg,  126,  127,  129. 

Lpw-'i  si'-a'na,  province,  72,  73,  124-127,  130, 

"  265-267. 

Purchase,  266,  267,  269. 

state,  268,  301,  xxx. 
Low'is-ville,  1S3,  423. 
Lovejoy,  Elijah,  349. 
Low/ ell,  F.  C,  225. 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  348,  363,  425,  342. 
Loyalists  (Tories),  166,  167,  177-180,  185,  186. 
Lundy,  Benjamin,  298. 
Lundys  Lane,  battle  of,  283. 
Ly-ce'um,  340. 
Lyon,  Capt.  Nathaniel,  415,  444. 

McClellan,  Gen.  George  B.,  443,  447-451,  480, 

481. 
McClernand,  Gen.  John  A.,  461. 
McCormick,  Cyrus  II.,  428,  326. 
MacDon'o?/f///,  Com.  Thomas,  283. 
McDowell,  Gen.  Irvin,  442,  443,  448,  449. 
Macedonian,  281. 
Mack'inac  mission,  69. 
McKinley,  William,  562,  563,  547,  552,  556, 

560,  579. 
McKinley  tariff,  541,  542,  543. 
Ma-com&',  Gen.  Alexander,  283. 
Macon  Bill  No,  2,  278. 
Madison,  Dolly,  277. 

Madison,  James,  and  the  Constitution,  207- 
209,211,214,216. 

President,  277-2S0,  284,  294. 

Virginia  Resolutions,  256. 
Ma-drid',  treaty  of,  73. 
Magazines,  229*  296,  342,  425. 
Ma-gel'lan,  Fernando,  86,  34. 
Ma-tain',  Alfred  T..  580. 
Ma-ho'ning  River,  24. 
Maine,  and  Massachusetts,  60,  87,  107. 

boundary  controversy,  355,  356. 

prohibition  law,  340. 

settlements  in,  42,  43,  46,  60. 

state,  299,  xxx. 
Maine,  destroyed,  552. 
Malvern  Hill,  battle  of.  419. 
Mandeville'8  Travels.  16. 
Ma-nil'a,  130,  553,  554,  556,  558. 
Mann,  Horace,  339. 

Manufactures,  136,  222,  224,  225;  (1812-16) 
279, 303, 304 ;  ( 1 840)  328 ;  428-430, 58 1 ,  570. 

in  South,  527,  528. 
Marcy,  William  L.,880,  384. 
Ma-ri-et'ta,  O.,  founded,  196. 
Mar'i-on,  Gen.  Francis,  178,  177,  186. 


Mar-quette'(-keV),  Father  Jacques,  71. 
Marshall,  James  W.,  369. 
Marshall,  John,  305,  332,  255. 
Maryland,  colony,  55,  56,  78,  108,  109. 

insurrections  in,  60,  84. 

ratifies  articles  of  confederation,  182,  183. 
Mason,  George,  212. 
Mason,  James  M.,  441. 
Mason,  Capt.  John,  57. 
Mason,  John  Y.,  384. 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  109. 
Massachusetts,  colony,  52-55,  59-62,  77,  79, 
86-S8,  107,  109. 

education  in,  93,  339. 

in  Revolution,  137,  142,  145,  146,  149-154. 

Flymouth  colony  added  to,  107. 

Shays's  Rebellion,  200. 

western  claims,  182,  191,  192. 
Mafh'er,  Cotton,  94,  96. 
Maxim,  Hiram,  531. 
Maximilian,  of  Mexico,  499. 
Mayflower,  50,  51. 
Meade,  Gen.  George  G..  462,  463,474. 
Meade,  Bishop  William,  426. 
Mecklenburg  Declaration,  156. 
Memphis,  captured,  445. 
Me-ngn'dgz  (dath),  38. 
Merchant,  colonial,  101. 
Merit  system,  538. 
Merritnac  and  Monitor,  447,  448. 
Merritt,  Gen.  Wesley  A.,  554. 
Met' acorn,  86. 
Mexico,  independence,  307,  308. 

Indians  in,  26. 

Napoleon  III.  and,  499. 

Spanish,  36,  37. 

war  with  U.S.,  361-367. 
MI-iim'I  River,  127. 
Miamis,  Ft.,  Mich..  72. 
Michigan,  69,  374,  xxxi. 
Midnight  judges,  263. 
Midway  Island,  561. 
Mil 'an  Decree,  272. 
Miles,  Gen.  Nelson  A.,  556. 
Military  Academy  founded,  339. 
Military  government,  in  Civil  War,  471,  497. 

of  southern  states,  503. 
Milligan,Dr.,471. 
Milwau'kee,  423. 
Mimms,  Ft.,  279. 
Mining,  2S9,  427,  500. 
Minnesota,  407,  xxxi. 
Mint,  established,  242. 
Min'u-it,  Peter,  67. 
Minutemen,  150,  152. 
Miquelon  (rne-k'-loN1),  131. 
Missionary  Ridge,  battle  of,  465,  466. 
Missionary  societies,  339. 
Mississippi,  245,  298,  301,  xxxi. 
Mississippi  River,  discovered,  37. 


xlii 


INDEX 


Mississippi  River,  explored,  71,  72. 

jetties,  534. 

right  to  navigate,  197,  252,  266. 

valley,  20,  21. 
Missouri,  298,  299,  xxxi. 
Missouri  compromise,  -299-301,  385,  387,  391. 
Mo-bile',  founded,  124. 

forts  captured,  28=3,  478,  479. 
Mo'doc  Indians,  501. 
Mo'hawks,  6S  ;  see  Iroquois. 
Molasses  Act,  115,  138. 
Money,  see  Coinage,  and  Paper  money. 
Monitor,  447,  448. 
Mon 'mouth,  battle  of,  174. 
Mo-non-ga-he'la  E.,  290. 
Mon-roe',  James,  266,  267,  306-309. 
Monroe  Doctrine,  308.  309. 
Montii'na,  500,  501,  527,  xxxi. 
Mont-calm',  Marquis  de,  130. 
Mon-te-rgy',  battle  of,  364. 
Montg6m'ery,  Gen.  Kichard,  154. 
Mont-re-al',  38,  66. 

captured,  130,  154. 
Moxts,  Siewr  de,  65,  66. 
Moravians,  82,  94,  96,  108. 
Morgan,  Gen.  Daniel,  178. 
Morgan,  Gen.  John,  raid  in  Ohio,  466. 
Mormons,  341,  394,  395,  527. 
Morrill  tariff,  441. 
Morris,  Gouverneur,  212. 
Morris.  Robert,  169,  196,  197. 
Morse,  Samuel  F.  B.,  429. 
Morton,  Dr.  William  T.  G.,  429. 
Mos/by,  Col.  John  B.,  466. 
Motley,  John  Lothrop,  425. 
M6wl'*trie,  Col.  William,  167. 
Mounds,  25. 

Mount  Desert  Island,  settled,  66. 
Mount  Vernon,  Washington's  home,  236. 
Mugwumps,  525. 
Miih'lenberg,  Frederick,  235. 
Mur'freesboro,  battle  of,  446. 
Museums,  founding  of,  340. 
Mus-ko'gee  Indians,  27. 

Napoleon,  257,  265,  282. 

Louisiana,  265-267. 

seizes  U.  S.  ships,  272,  273,  278. 
Napoleon  III.,  in  Mexico,  456,  499. 
Narrafran'sett  Indians,  57,  61,  87. 
Nar-vi'i'sz  (-4th),  Panfllo  de,  36. 
Nashville,  founded,  183. 

in  Civil  War,  444,  484. 
Nashville  Convention,  374. 
Na)W/ i-toche*',  Ft.,  125. 
National  debt,  see  Public  debt. 
National  road,  294. 
Natural  resources  of  U.S.,   17-25,   29,  289, 

426,  427. 
Naum'keag  settlement,  52. 


Nau-voo',  341,  394. 
Naval  Academy  founded,  339. 
Navigation,  about  1450,  14. 
Navigation  acts,  60,  75,  77,  103,  136. 
Navy,  in  Civil  War,  438,  439,  443-448,  452. 
466,  478,  479. 

in  Revolution,  175. 

in  War  of  1812,  280,  281. 

in  war  with  France,  257. 

Jefferson  and,  265,  271. 

modern,  541,  553-555. 
Nebraska,  385-387,  501,  xxxi. 
Negro  Seamen  Act,  407. 
Negroes,  see  Slavery. 

after  Civil  War,  492,  494,  495,  569. 

colonization  of,  298. 

schools,  528. 

suffrage,  495,  496,  503-505,  540. 

troops  in  Civil  War,  460. 
Netherlands,  see  Dutch. 
Neutrality,  249-252,  271-273. 
Ne-vi'i'da,  501,  xxxi. 
New  Albion,  39. 
New  Amsterdam,  67,  68,  78,  79. 
New  England,  Council  for,  52,  53,  57,  59. 

Indian  wars  in,  57,  58,  86,  S7,  125. 

settled,  50-55,  57-63. 

slave  trade,  114,  115. 

struggle  for  charters,  S6-S9. 

War  of  1812,  284,  285. 

See  also  names  of  separate  states. 
New  England  Confederation,  61,  87. 
New  England  Primer,  96. 
New  France,  66,  74 ;  see  Canada. 
New  Gra-na'da,  307,  366. 
New  Hampshire,  59,  87,  107,  xxxi. 
New  Haven,  57,  61,  77. 
New  Jersey,  80,  107.  xxxi. 
New  Mexico,  366,  372-375,  381. 
New  Netherland,  67,  68,  78. 
New  Or'le-ans,  125,  130,  266,  267,  422. 

battle  of,  2&3. 

captured  in  Civil  War,  447. 
New  Sweden,  68. 
New  York  (city),  draft  riots,  472. 

growth,  79,  220,  295,  423,  538. 

in  Revolution,  145,  167,  169,  184. 

Tweed  Ring,  514. 
New  York  (state),  "  Anti-Rent,"  354. 

colony,  78-80,  S9,  107,  109. 

in  Revolution,  141,  170. 

settled,  67,  68. 

western  claims,  182,  191. 
New  York  Harbor,  discovered,  37,  67. 
Newark,  settled,  80. 
Newburg  Addresses,  184. 
Newfoundland,  40,  125. 
Newport,  founded,  59. 

in  Revolution,  169,  175,  177. 
Newspapers,  94,  229,  343, 


INDEX 


xliii 


Nl-ca-ra'gua  Canal,  366,  393,  522,  581,  582. 

Ni-co-le./',  Jean  (zhaN),  69. 

Nic'olls,  Gov.  Kichard,  79. 

Nina  (nen'ya),  32. 

Nominating  conventions,  226,  320. 

Non-importation.  140,  142,  14T,  272. 

Normal  school,  first,  339. 

North,  Lord,  153,  165,  166,  174,  183. 

North  Carolina,  colony,  84,  85,  108,  123. 

in  Revolution,  143,  144,  156,  177,  178. 

western  claims,  182,  192,  194. 
North  Dakota,  527,  xxxi. 
Northwest  Ordinance,  195. 
Northwest  passage,  38. 
Northwest  Territory,  195,  243,  244. 
Nova  Scotia,  125,  153. 
Nullification,  257,  313,  319-323. 

of  Fugitive  Slave  Act,  379,  381. 

O'berlin  College,  340,  349. 

O  'gle-thorpe,  George,  108,  126. 

Ohio,  admitted,  245,  xxxi. 

settled,  193,  244,  289,  293,  301. 
Ohio  Company,  127. 
Ohio  Company  of  A ssociates,  195,  193. 
Oil  wells,  427,  528. 
Ok-la-ho'ma,  526. 
OZm'sted,  Frederick  Law,  530. 
Olney,  Richard,  546. 
O-neI'das,  68;  see  Iroquois. 
On-on-dii'gas,  68 ;  see  Iroquois. 
O-peq'wan  Creek,  battle  of,  479. 
Orange,  Ft.,  67. 
Orders  in  Council,  272. 
Ordinance  of  1787,  195. 
6r'e-g6n,  360,  361,  372,  407,  xxxi. 

explored,  268,  269. 

joint  occupation,  303,  356. 
O-ris'ka-ny,  battle  of,  170. 
Or'le-ans,  Island  of,  265. 
Orleans,  Territory  of,  268. 
Os-a-wat'o-mie  (-wot'-),  fight,  888. 
Oggood,  Samuel,  237. 
Ost-end'  Manifesto,  384. 
Os-we'go,  Ft.,  captured  by  French,  129. 
Otis,  James,  137. 
O'wen,  Robert,  341. 

Pacific  Ocean,  discovered,  36. 

Pacific  railroads,  393,  502,  535. 

Page,  Thomas  Nelson,  530. 

Paine,  Thomas,  156,  191. 

Pak'en-Aam,  Gen.  Edward  M.,  283. 

Piil'ma,  Gen.  Tornas  Estrada,  560. 

Pii'lo  Al'to,  battle  of,  364. 

Pa'los,  32. 

Pan-a-ma'  Canal,  366,  367,  521,  522,  581,  582. 

Panama  Congress,  311. 

Panama  republic,  582. 

Pan-American  Congress,  545,  311. 


Pan-American  policy  of  Blaine,  522. 

Pa-nay',  557. 

Panics,  311,  334,  393,  507. 

Paper  blockade,  250. 

Paper  money,  115,  185,  186,  200,  49S,  508. 

in  Civil  War,  442,  471,  473. 
Paris,  peace  of  (1763),  130. 

treaty  of  (1782),  183,  184. 
Parish,  government  of,  112. 
Parker,  Judge  Alton  B.,  583. 
Parker,  Theodore.  348. 
Parkman,  Francis,  425. 
Parliament,  60,  77,  103,  111.  115, 126,  138-141, 

146,  153,  174. 
Parson's  Cause,  137. 
Parties,  see  Federalist,  Democratic,  etc. 
Party  management,  226, 227, 316, 320, 422, 540. 
Patent,  defined,  40. 
Pat'er-son,  William,  207. 
Pa-troons',  68,  354. 
Peace  Congress  (1861),  410. 
Pea  Ridge,  battle  of,  444. 
Pemberton,  Gen.  John  C,  461. 
Peninsular  Campaign,  447-450. 
Penn,  William,  80-84,  94,  107,  109,  113. 
Pennsylvania,  S0-84,  109,  193,  xxxi. 

Whisky  Insurrection,  252,  253. 
Pensaco'la,  124,  307. 
Pensions,  541. 
People's  party,  542. 
Pep'per-ell,  William,  126. 
Pe'quot  War,  57,  58. 
Per-dI*do  River,  265. 
Perkins,  Jacob,  225. 
Per'ry,  Com.  Matthew  C,  371. 
Perry,  Oliver  H.,  281. 
Personal  Liberty  Bills,  379,  381. 
Pe-ru',  26,  36,  37,  307,  308. 
Petersburg,  siege  of,  475,  484,  485. 
Pet'i-gru,  James  L.,  408. 
Philadelphia,  82,  83,  107,  220,  238,  239,  423, 
514. 

Centennial  exposition,  511. 

in  Revolution,  145,  152,  171,  174. 
Philip,  King,  Indian,  86,  87,  28. 
Phil'ip-pine  Islands,  acquisition  of,  556-558, 
563. 

discovered,  36. 

government,  558,  559,  575. 
Phillips,  Wendell,  34S. 
Phillips  academies,  228. 
Phips,  William,  101,  122. 
Photography,  429. 
Pickering,  Timothy,  195,  255. 
Pickett,  Gen.  George  E.,  463. 
Pierce,  Franklin,  880,  384,  388. 
Pike,  Lieut.  Zeb'ulon,  269. 
Pikes  Peak,  discovered,  269. 
Pilgrims,  49-51. 
Pinckney,  Charles  C,  255,  277. 


xliv 


INDEX 


Pi-nfi'da.  36,  84. 

Pin'ta,  32. 

Pirates,  104,  105,  263. 

Pitt,  William  (Chatham),  129,  135,  141,  165, 
166. 

Pittsburg,  143,  289,  423,  428. 

Pittsburg  Landing,  battle  near,  445. 

Pi-zar'ro,  Francisco,  36. 

Planter,  colonial,  100,  108. 

Plassey,  battle  of,  129. 

Piatt  Amendment,  559. 

Plattsburg,  battle  of,  283. 

Plym'outh  Colony,  50,  60,  61,  77,  107. 

Plymouth  Company,  45,  46,  52. 

Pocahon'tas,  47. 

Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  342. 

Point  Pleasant,  battle  of,  144. 

Pokanokets,  Indians,  86. 

Po/k,  James  K.,  35S-367,  377. 

Pollard,  Edward  Albert,  344. 

Polo,  Marco,  15. 

Pon'ti-ac,  132,  28. 

Pony  express,  430. 

Poor  RicharoV s  Almanac,  117. 

Poor  whites,  343,  421. 

Pope,  Gen.  John,  444,  450. 

Pope's  bull  of  1493,  33. 

Pop'Aam,  Chief-justice,  46. 

Popular  sovereignty,  372,  385. 

Population  (1700)  91,  (1754)  12S,  (1776)  167, 
(1790)  220,  (1S20)  2S9,  290,  (1860)  419, 
420,  (1900)  565,  568 ;  see  also  Life. 

Port  Gibson,  captured,  461. 

Port  Hudson,  captured,  461. 

Port  Royal,  N.S.,  founaed.  66. 
captured  by  English,  66,  122,  125. 

Port  Koyal,  S.C.,  French  in,  88 

Portages,  Indian,  23,  24. 

Porter,  Capt.  David,  283. 

Porter,  Com.  David  D.,  446. 

Portola'no,  14. 

Por'to  Ri'co,  33,  556-559. 

Portugal  in  1450-1500,  29. 
discoveries,  16,  33-35. 

Post  Office,  152,  430,  518. 

Po-to-s'i',  in  Peru,  37. 

Powell,  Major,  501. 

Pow-ha-tan',47,  28. 

Prairies,  20,  21. 

Preemption  Act,  335. 

Pres'cott,  Col.  William,  154. 

Prescott,  William  IL,  342.  425. 

President.  212,  235-238. 
Electoral  Count  Act,  538. 
Presidential  Succession  Act.  538. 

Presidential  election  (1789)  235,  (1792)  24G, 
(1796)  254,  (1800)  25S,  (1804)  270,  (1808) 
277,  (1812)  284,  (1816)  306,  (1820)  306, 
(1824)  309,  310,  (1828)  313,  (1832)  320, 
(1S36)  334,  (1840)  353,  (1844)  358,  (1848) 


871,  872,  (1852)  380,  (1856)  389,  (1860) 
403,  (1864)  480,  481,  (1868)  502,  (1872) 
505,  (1876)  511,  512,  (1880)  520,  (1884) 
525,  526,  (1888)  540,  (1892)  543,  (1896)547, 
(1900)  579,  (1904)  583. 

Presqwe  Isle,  fort  at,  127. 

Princeton,  battle  of,  169. 

Princeton  College,  116. 

Pring,  Martin,  42. 

Printing,  first  in  U.S.,  94. 

Prisoners,  in  Civil  War,  433,  473. 
in  Revolution,  172. 

Privateering,  104,  175,  257,  283-285. 

Proclamation  line  of  1763,  131,  132. 

Proctor,  Senator,  552. 

Prohibition,  340,  583. 

Proprietary,  or  proprietor,  56,  110,  111. 

Providence,  founded,  59. 

Provincial  Congress,  150,  153,  159. 

Pr u-d/iomwe' ,  Ft.,  72. 

Public  debt,  (1776-84)  185,  186,  196,  (1790) 
240,  241,  (1812-14)  262,  284,  (1835)  334, 
(1861-66)  442,  498,  (1S98)  544,  568. 

Public  lands,  182,  191-193,  290,  332-335,  500, 
527. 
grants  to  railroads,  393,  502,  516. 

Puebios  (pweb'),  26. 

Pu'get  Sound,  23. 

Pu-las'ki,  Casimir,  Count,  167. 

Puritans,  49,  52,  53,  60,  80,  84,  96. 

Putnam,  Gen.  Israel,  154. 

Putnam,  Rufus,  195. 

Quakers,  61,  62,  77,  80-85,  282. 

Quartering  Act,  139. 

Quebec'  (city),  attacked  by  Arnold,  154. 

attacked  bv  English,  125. 

captured  by  English,  66,  130. 

founded,  66. 
Quebec  (province),  131,  144,  153. 
Quebec  Act,  144,  154. 
i^ueen  Anne's  War,  125. 
Quin'cy  (-zi),  Josiah,  284. 
Qui  vi'ra  (ke-),  explored,  37. 

Railroads,  control  of.  533-535. 

growth,  327-329,  325,   392,   393,   430,   481, 
502,  515-519. 

improvements  in,  531,  571. 
Raisin  River,  battle  of,  281. 
R&'\e\gh,  Sir  Walter,  40. 
Randolph,  Edmund,  149,  209,  212,  216. 
Randolph,  Edward,  86,  87,  103. 
Randolph,  John,  301,  804. 
Rankin,  John,  347. 
Reciprocity,  522,  545. 
Rg-con-cen-tra'dos,  551. 
Reconstruction,  491-497,  503-505,  509. 
Redemptioners,  99. 
Reed,  Thomas  B.,  538,  552. 


INDEX 


xlv 


Referen'dum,  540. 

Reformation,  Protestant,  37. 

"  Regulators1'  of  North  Carolina,  143. 

Religion,  see  Churches. 

Re.  nais-saNee',  18. 

Republican  party  (Democratic),  253,  306  ;  see 

Democratic. 
Republican  party  (later),  389,  402,  403,  525, 

540,  541. 
Requisitions,  1S5,  191. 
Rg  sii'ca  dg  hi  Piil'ma,  battle  of,  364. 
Restoration  of  Charles  II.,  77. 
Re-vere',  Paul,  150. 
Revolution,  American,  135-188. 
Revolution  in  England,  88. 
RAett,  Colonel,  104. 
Rhode  Island,  colony,  59,  77,  87-89,  107. 

Dorr  Rebellion,  354,  355. 
Rhodes,  James  Ford,  530. 
Ribault,  .Jean  (zhiiN  re-bo'),  88. 
Richmond,  in  Civil  War,  439,  448,  485. 
River  and  harbor  bills,  327,  533. 
Roads,  223,  224,  290-295,  325,  356. 
Ro-a-noke'  Island,  40. 
Robertson,  James,  144. 
Robinson,  Rev.  John,  49. 
Rochambeau  (ro-shiiN-bo'),  Count  de,  179. 
Rochester,  N.Y.,  founded,  290. 
Rock'e-fel-ler,  John  D.,  515. 
Rocky  Mountains,  21. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  579-583,  560,  538.  555, 
Ro'se-crans.  Cxen.  William  S.,  445,  463-465. 
"  Rough  Riders,"  555. 
Rule  of  1756,  251. 
Rumgey,  James,  225. 
Russian  America,  308,  309,  499. 
Rutledge,  John,  149. 
Rygwick,  treaty  of,  122. 

Sa'ga.  Icelandic,  31. 

St.  Au'gus-tin«,  38,  74,  125,  126. 

St.  Clair,  Gen.  Arthur,  195,  243. 

St.  Croia;  settlement,  66. 

St.  Germain  (sii>r-zhar-maN'),  treaty  of,  66. 

St.  Joseph,  Ft.,  124,  1S2. 

St.  Leg'er,  Col.  Barry,  170. 

St.  Louis,  290,  423,  545. 

St.  Louis,  Ft.,  73. 

St.  Marys  settlement,  56. 

St.  Pierre  (saN-pyar'),  131. 

St.  Xav'i-er  (sant  zav'i-er)  mission,  69. 

Salem,  Mass.,  52,  98,  146. 

Salt  Lake  City,  394. 

Sa-mo'a  Islands,  560,  561. 

Sampson,  Admiral  William  T..  554,  555. 

San  Francisco,  423. 

San  Gabriel,  battles  near,  365. 

San  tl-de-fon'so,  treaty  of,  265. 

San  Juan  (hoo-iin')  Island,  506. 

Sua  Juau  dg  Ulloa  (ool-yo'a),  39. 


San  Juan  Hill,  battle  of,  555. 
Siin  Mar-tin',  Gen.  Jose  de,  307 
San  Sal-va-dor',  32. 
Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  48. 
Sanitary  Commission,  470. 
Siin'ta  AVna,  General,  330,  363,  864,  365. 
Santa  Fe,  37,  364. 
Santa  Md-r'i'a,  32. 
San-ti-a'go  de  Cuba,  555. 
San'to  Do-mi'n'go,  33,  41,  507. 
Sarato'ga,  surrender  at,  170. 
Sau«  Ste.  (sant)  Ma'rie,  69,  534. 
Savannah,  founded,  10S. 
in  Revolution,  177,  179. 
taken  by  Sherman,  481. 
Say  and  Seal,  Lord,  57. 
Saybrook,  founded,  57. 
Scalawags,  504. 
SeAe-nec'ta-dy,  attacked,  122. 
Sc//ley,  Admiral  Wintield  S.,  555. 
SsAo'field,  Gen.  John  A.,  484. 
Schools,  see  Education. 
S«Awy'ler,  Gen.  Philip,  170. 
SeAu^l'kiU  Kiver,  172. 

Sci-o'to  Company,  193. 

Scotch  settlers,  80,  85,  91,  108. 

Scotch-Irish  settlers,  82,  91,  143,  193,  220. 

Scott,  Gen.  Winfield,  283,  320,  864,  3S0,  411. 

Seabury,  James,  230. 

Seafaring,  colonial,  101,  103,  104. 

Seal  fishery  difficulty,  546. 

Secession,  404-412,  415-417,  488. 
effect  of,  493,  494. 

Sectionalism,  336,  343-351,  566. 

Sedition  Act,  256,  257. 

Sem'i-noles,  132,  307,  832. 

Senate,  235. 

SeVe-cas,  68  ;  see  Iroquois. 

Separatists,  49,  60. 

Se-rd'pis,  captured  by  Jones,  175. 

Seven  Pines,  battle  of,  448. 

Seven  Years'  Wars  129-131. 

Severalty  Act,  526. 

Se-vieV,  John,  144,  178,  194. 

Sev'ille,  33.  74. 

Sew'ard,  William  IL,  377,  875,  403,  404,  409. 
Secretary  of  State,  411,  413,  499. 

Sey'mowr,  Horatio,  .502. 

Sha'draeA,  378. 

Shafter,  Gen.  William  R.,  555,  556. 

Shakers,  231,  341. 

Sharpsburg,  battle  near,  451. 

Shays's  Rebellion,  200. 

Shenando'ah,  439. 

Shenandoah  valley,  449,  479. 

Sher'i-dan,  Gen.  Philip  H.,  479,  480,  485. 

Sherman,  John,  401,  513,  585,  543. 

Sherman,  Roger,  157. 

Sherman,   Gen.   William   T.,    481-484,    445, 
446,  461,  465,  477,  478,  486. 


xlvi 


INDEX 


Sherman,  march  to  the  sea,  481,  482. 
Sherman  Act  (silver),  543. 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law,  535. 
Khl'loh,  battle  of,  445. 
Ships  (1450)  14,  (1588)  41,  (1700)  122. 
growth  of  shipping-,  101,  392,  439. 
subsidy  acts,  392,  541. 
See  Steamboats. 
Si-er'ra  Le-o'ne,  16. 
Si-er'ra  Ne-va'da.  22. 

Silver,  coinage,  242,  334,  508,  513,  542,  543 
547. 
mines,  427,  500. 
Sioux  Indians,  72,  501. 
Sitting  Bull,  501. 
Six  Nations,  123  ;  see  Iroquois. 
Slade,  William,  349. 
Slater,  Samuel,  225. 
Slave  insurrections,  100,  347. 
Slave  trade,  colonial,  39,  114,  115. 
foreign,  prohibited,  201,  274. 
in  Constitution,  211. 
in  District  of  Columbia,  prohibited,  377. 
Slavery,  abolished  in  North,  201,  202. 
abolished  in  South,  455-460,  491-493. 
abolished  in  territories,  456. 
agitation  (1801-1807)  273,  274,  (1808-1821) 
298-301,  (1830-1S44)  347-351,  (1846-1852) 
372-381,   (1853-1860)    383^92,  395,   397- 
899,  (1860)  401-403,  406-410. 
arguments  for  and  against,  345-851. 
colonial,  99,  100,  48,  85,  108. 
condition  of  slaves,  221,  343-845. 
fugitive  slaves,  see  Fugitive, 
powers  of  Congress  over,  388. 
representation  of  slaves  in  Congress,  210, 

211. 
Spanish-American,  39. 
Texan,  330,  331,  358. 
Sli-dell',  John,  361,  362,  441. 
Smith,  Caleb  B.,  412. 
Smith,  Gerrit,  347. 
Smith,  Capt.  John,  47,  94. 
Smith,  Joseph,  341. 
Smuggling,  colonial,  103,  104,  136. 
Social  reforms,  225,  226,  338-351. 
Socialist  party,  5S3. 
Soil,  17,  21,  29,  289. 
Solid  South,  520. 
Sons  of  Liberty,  140. 
So'to,  Ferdinando  de,  37. 
Sow-le',  Pierre  (pyar),  384. 
Sound  Money  Democrats,  547. 
South  America,  discovered,  33. 
independent,  307,  308. 
Spanish  in,  37. 
South  Bend,  settled,  290. 
South  Carolina,  colony,  85,  108,  123,  125. 
French  in,  38. 
nullification,  319-321. 


South  Carolina,  Revolution  in,  177-179. 
secession,  404,  405,  411. 
western  claims,  182,  192. 
South  Dakota,  527,  xXxi. 
Spain,  Black  Warrior  difficulty,  384. 
boundary  controversies  with,  269,  270. 
claim  to  North  America,  42,  73,  75. 
colonies,  36-38,  74,  124, 130,  307  ;  see  Cuba, 
conditions  in  1492,  17,  29. 
discoveries,  31-33,  36,  37. 
in  Revolution,  175,  181,  182,  184. 
treaties  (1795)  197,  252,  (1819)  307,  (1898) 

557. 
war  with  England,  38-43,   125,  126,  175, 

181,  182,  184. 
war  with  U.S.,  551-557,  563. 
West  Florida  dispute,  269,  270. 
Specie  Circular,  334. 
Specie  payments,  508,  513. 
Spice  Islands,  16. 
Spoils  system,  227,  318. 
Spotswood,  Gov.  Alexander,  105. 
Spottsylvania,  battle  of,  474. 
Stamp  Act,  13S-141. 
Stamp  Act  Congress,  140. 
Standard  Oil  Company,  515. 
Standish,  Capt.  Miles,  51. 
Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  405,  411,  437. 
Stanwix,  Ft.,  treaty,  132. 
Stark,  Gen.  John,  170. 
Star-Spangled  Banner,  283. 
States,  government  of,  159,  160,  316,  422,  538- 
540,  575. 
receive  money  from  U.S.,  385. 
relations  to  U.S.,  211,  213. 
table  of,  xxx. 

See  Secession,    Reconstruction,  etc.,   and 
names  of  the  states. 
Steamboats,  225,  274,  275,  293,  326,  392,  430, 

517. 
Steel  making,  222,  518. 
Stephens  (ste  venz),  Alexander  H.,  406,  408, 

409,  486. 
Steu'ben,  Baron  von,  167. 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  496,  493. 
Stock  watering,  517. 
Stone,  Lucy,  340. 
Stone  River,  battle  of,  446,  452. 
Stony  Point,  captured,  177. 
Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher,  379,  380. 
Stra'e/iey,  William,  94. 
"  Strict  Construction,"  246. 
Strikes,  519,  536,  537,  572,  573,  580. 
Stuart,  Gen.  J.  E.  B.,  466,  477. 
Stwy've-sant,  Peter,  68,  78. 
Suffrage,  see  Voters. 
Sugar  Act,  138. 
Sullivan,  Gen.  John,  180. 
Sumner,  Charles,  389,  493,  507. 
Sumter,  Ft.,  405,  411-415,  433,  466. 


INDEX 


xlvii 


Sumter,  Gen.  Thomas,  177, 186. 
Supreme  Court,  211,  213,  238,  304-306. 
Sutter's  Fort  and  Mill,  369. 
Swan'sea,  in  Indian  war,  86. 
Swedish  settlers,  6S,  80,  91. 
Symmes  Company,  193. 

Taft,  William  H.,  558,  559,  582. 
Tallinadge,  James,  299. 
Tain 'many  Society,  226,  227. 
Ta'ney,  Roger  B.,  329. 
Tap'pan,  Arthur  and  Louis,  347. 
Tariff,  in  the  dependencies,  559. 

on  imports  from  Cuba,  560. 
Tariif  Acts  (1789)  241,  (1816)  304,  (1824)  311, 
312,    (1828)  312,   (1832)  319,  336,   (1833) 
821,   (1842)  354,   (1846)  359,   (1857)  393, 
(1861)  441,  (1S83)  520,  (1887-1894)   540- 
544,  (1897)  547. 
Tarle'ton,  Lieut. -Col.  Bannastre,  177,  178. 
Taxation,  constitutional  provisions,  211,  213. 

See  Direct  tax,  Income  tax,  Tariff,  etc. 
Taylor,  ZacA'ary,  in  Mexican  War,  361,  362, 
364. 

President,  372-375. 
Tea  tax,  141,  142,  145,  174. 
Te-cum'the,  278,  279,  282,  28. 
Telegraph,  electric,  429,  518. 
Telephone,  532,  570. 
Teller  Resolution,  553,  xxix. 
Temperance  movements,  340. 
Tennessee,  admitted,  245,  xxxi. 

settled,  143,  144,  183,  193, 194,  289,  293,  301. 
Tenure  of  Office  Act,  497,  538. 
TeVre  Haute  (hot'),  settled,  290. 
Territories,    see    Northwest  Territory,   In- 
diana, etc. 
Territory,  growth  of,  566-568. 
Ter'ry,  Eli,  225. 

Texas,  330,  331,  357-359,  374,  xxxi. 
Thames  (temz),  battle  of,  282. 
Thomas,  Gen.  George  H.,  464,  465,  444,  484. 
Thomas,  Senator,  299. 
Three-fifths  rule,  210,  211. 
Ticondero'ga,  captured,  153. 
filden.  Samuel  J.,  511,  512,  515. 
Tippecanoe',  battle  of,  279. 
Tobacco,  in  Virginia,  48,  49. 
Toleration  Act  of  1649  (Md.),  56. 
Ton'ty,  72. 

Toombs,  Robert.  374,  407,  413. 
Tor-de.-si'1'las  (-yas),  treaty  of,  33. 
Tories  (loyalists),  166,  167,  177-180,  185,  186. 
Tos-ca-nel'li,  16. 

ToMS-saiN^'  L'Ow-ver-tuiv/,  266. 
Town  government,  colonial,  112,  113. 
Town  meetings,  112,  113,  51,  297. 
Town's^end,  Charles,  137,  141,  142,  145. 
Trade,  see  Commerce. 
Trade  routes,  mediaeval,  14-16. 


Trades  unions,  428,  519,  535-537,  572,  573. 

Traf-al-gar',  battle  of,  272. 

Transportation,  see  Railroads,  Canals,  Steam- 
boats. 

Transylvania  Company,  160,  161. 

Treasury  notes,  2S4. 

Treaties,  see  Commercial  treaties,  and  treaties 
by  name. 

Trent  affair,  441. 

Trenton,  20,  326  ;  battle,  169. 

Trip'o-li,  war  with,  265. 

Trist,  N.  P.,  365,  366. 

Trusts,  533,  535,  548,  571,  580,  581. 

Try'on.  Gov.  William,  144. 

Tu-lantf'  University,  529. 

Tur-goT,  Baron  de,  136. 

Turks,  15,  29. 

Turner,  Nat,  347. 

Turnpikes,  223. 

Tuscara'was  River,  183. 

Tuscaro'ra  Indians,  123. 

Tu-tu/i'la,  561. 

Twain,  Mark,  530,  293. 

Tweed  Ring,  514,  515. 

Tyler,  John,  868-858. 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  379,  380. 
"  Underground  Railroad,"  373. 
Union,  Franklin's  plan  of,  128. 

ofthe  thirteen  colonies,  152,157,159-163,189. 

See  Secession. 
United  Colonies  of  New  England,  61. 
University  of  North  Carolina,  228. 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  116,  228. 
University  of  Virginia,  889. 
U'tah,  377,  394,  527,  xxxi. 
U'treeM,  treaty  of,  114,  125. 

Vail,  Alfred,  429. 

Vallan' digram,  Clement  L.,  472. 

Valley  Forge,  army  at,  172. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  313,  31S,  320. 

President,  334,  335. 

presidential  candidate,  353,  358,  371,  372. 
Vanda'lia  Company,  144,  161. 
Vanderbilt,  Cornelius,  517. 
Vanderbilt,  William  H.,533. 
Ven-e-zue'la  (-zwe'-)  boundary,  546. 
Ven'ice,  trade  routes  of,  15. 
Vg'ra  Cruz  (kroos),  captured,  364. 
Vermont',  109,  161,  227,  xxxi. 
Ver-ra-za'no  (-rat-sa'-),  37,  34. 
Ve'sey,  Denmark,  347. 
Vespu'cius,  Amer'icus,  35,  34. 
Vicksburg,  capture  of,  460,  461. 
Vin-cenraes/,  124,  181. 
Virginia,  colony,  46-49,  60,  84,  127. 

named,  40. 

Revolution  in,  137,  140,  1S2,  183. 

western  claims,  182,  191,  192. 


xlviii 


INDEX 


Virginia  Plan  of  Constitution,  207,  209,  210. 
Virginia  Resolutions  (1798),  256. 
Virginias,  507. 

Voters,  110,  262,  316,  589,  540,  574. 
negro,  495,  496,  503-505,  540. 

Wa'bash  River,  24,  71. 

Wake  Island,  561. 

Walker,  Robert  J.,  359. 

War  for  Independence,  150-188. 

War  of  1812,  279-287. 

Ward,  Arteuius,  425,  426. 

Warren,  Gen.  Joseph,  154. 

Wars,  see  Indian  wars,  and  wars  by  name. 

War'wick,  Earl,  59. 

War' wick,  R  I.,  founded,  59. 

Washington  (city),  283,  422. 

treaty  of,  506. 
Washington  estate),  admitted,  527,  xxxi. 
Washington,  Ft.,  169. 

Washington,    George,    biography,   173,    174, 
208. 

Constitution,  203,  207-209,  216. 

death,  257. 

farewell  address,  258. 

French  and  Indian  War,  127. 

President,  235-237,  243,  246,  249,  251-254 

Revolution,    142,    151,  154,    167-174,    178, 
179,  184,  186,  187. 

writings  of,  229,  253. 
Washingto'nian  societies,  340. 
Wa-tau'ga  settlement,  143,  144,  179. 
Wat'ling  (wot'-)  Island,  33. 
Waxhaw  Creek,  battle  of,  177. 
Wavne,  Gen.  Anthony,  177,  244. 
Webster,  Daniel,  322,  323,  312,  819,  356,  874. 
Webster,  Noah,  342. 
Webster-Ashburton  treaty,  356. 
Weed,  Thurlow,  377. 
Welles,  Gideon,  412. 
Wesley,  John  and  Charles,  116. 
West  Florida,  265,  266,  269,  270  ;  see  Florida. 
West  Indies,  37,  60,  73. 
West  Point,  in  Revolution,  177. 

Military  Academy,  339. 
West  Virginia,  467,  xxxi. 
Western  Reserve,  192,  244. 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  518. 
West'inghouse,  George,  531. 
Wgy'mouth,  George,  43. 
Whal'ley.  Kdward,  77. 
Wheelwright,  John,  69. 


Whig  party,  353,  380,  381,  888,  3S9. 
Whisky  insurrections,  252,  253,  200. 
Whisky  Ring  of  1875,  507. 
White,  John,  40. 
White  Plains,  battle  of,  169. 
White'field,  Rev.  George,  116. 
Whitman,  Dr.  Marcus,  356,  357. 
Whitney,  Eli,  221. 
Whit'ti-er,  John  G.,  348,  424. 
Wiggles  worth,  Michael,  96. 
Wigwam,  27,  501. 
Wilderness  campaign,  474. 
Wilderness  Road,  160,  224. 
Wilkes,  Capt.  Charles,  441. 
Wilkinson,  Gen.  James,  270,  282. 
Wil-lii'mette  valley,  360. 
William  III.,  83,  93,  103,  107, 122. 
William  and  Mary  College,  93. 
William  Henry,  Ft.,  captured,  129. 
Williams,  Roger,  58,  59. 
Williamsburg,  battle  of,  448. 
Wilmington,  Del.,  settled,  68. 
Wilraot  Proviso,  363. 
Wilson,  William  L.,  tariff,  543,  544. 
Winthrop,  John,  53,  54,  55,  94. 
Wisconsin,  874,  xxxi. 

French  in,  69,  71. 
Witchcraft  in  the  colonies,  97,  98. 
Wolfe,  Gen.  James,  130. 
Woman  suffrage,  540. 
"  Woman's  Rights"  movement,  340. 
Wood,  Gen.  Leonard,  559. 
Woolman,  John,  201. 
W7 right,  Frances,  340. 
Wrrits  of  assistance,  136,  137. 
Wy'eth,  Nathaniel  J.,  356. 
Wy-o'ming,  501,  527,  xxxi. 
Wyoming  Valley,  attack  on,  179. 

X.  Y.  Z.  controversy,  255,  256. 

Yale  College,  93. 
Yiim'as-see  Indians,  123. 
Yellowstone  valley,  501,  527. 
York,  Duke  of,  78-81,  87. 
Yorktown,  surrender  of,  179. 
Yo-sem'i-te  valley,  527. 
Young,  Brigham,  894. 

Zen'ger,  John  Peter,  94. 
Zol'licoffer,  Gen.  Felix  K.,  444. 
Zu/nis  (nyeeg),  25,  26. 


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